How did Ohio State fend off Wisconsin’s late push in Chicago?
CHICAGO – For the first time all evening, Wisconsin was starting to assert itself on the game. Ohio State had led by as many as 27 points with 15:31 to play, but with NCAA Tournament hopes hanging in the balance the Badgers mounted a push in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Kamari McGee’s fast-break layup with 11:49 to play capped a 9-0 run, pulling Wisconsin within 50-33 and injecting some life into the United Center as Ohio State called timeout. When play resumed, the Buckeyes countered by turning a pair of effort plays into consecutive buckets – Isaac Likekele’s offensive rebound fed Sean McNeil for a corner 3, and after a Tyler Wahl miss Brice Sensabaugh pushed the break, fed the ball upcourt to Likekele who hit McNeil for a layup to make it 55-33 with 11:01 remaining.
Two buckets, five points, 25 seconds elapsed. The run had seemingly been answered.
Instead, it merely set the stage for the type of finish that reveals a person’s outlook on life. After McNeil’s layup, Ohio State would score two points in the next 9:41 as Wisconsin pulled within 57-52, a stretch finally broken when McNeil hit both sides of a one-and-one free-throw trip with 1:20 left.
The Buckeyes wouldn’t put the Badgers away until, with 49.4 seconds left, Justice Sueing hit the second of two free throws after Wisconsin had cut the deficit to 61-57, the closest the game had been since Ohio State led 7-4.
For large stretches, it wasn’t pretty. At times, it was downright cringe-worthy. But in the end, the Buckeyes withstood the push, made enough late free throws and came up with enough defensive stops to survive and advance to the second round with a 65-57 win against the Badgers.
Big exhale.
“They got some momentum,” Ohio State freshman Brice Sensabaugh said. “Obviously this is a win-or-go-home tournament. They swung back, and we didn’t need to win the game by 30 points we just needed to win by one. We just kept fighting and kept holding on and we got it.”
In the final 11 minutes, Wisconsin outscored Ohio State 24-10 and had scoring runs of 8-0 and 11-0 to claw its way back into the game. The Buckeyes missed five shots and turned it over three times before a Sueing basket with 4:25 left, then missed two more shots, had another turnover and missed the front end of two one-and-one situations leading into McNeil’s two makes with 1:20 to play.
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“We knew we had to come out with aggression and execute our game plan,” Sueing said. “We were able to get a comfortable lead. Obviously we need to work on maintaining that as we continue on in the tournament, but a couple months ago, you couldn’t have said that we’d have been able to stay as poised as we were today.”
When Wisconsin got to 61-57, Ohio State would close by Sueing hitting one of two free throws, forcing Tyler Wahl to miss a layup, getting a free throw from freshman center Felix Okpara and forcing a Wahl 3-point miss before freshman Roddy Gayle sunk two free throws with 11.2 to play that set the margin.
“The thing everybody says in college basketball is survive and advance,” Thornton said. “We went out to a great start and then took a dip and it wasn’t pretty at all, but you got the win and you move on so that’s the only thing you really care about. Wisconsin’s a great team and they fought but we was just the better team.”
Free throws aren’t always free
Ohio State came to Chicago on a torrid streak from the free-throw line. Including a 20 for 20 effort in a win against No. 21 Maryland, the Buckeyes tipped off Wednesday having hit 40 of their last 42 from the line.
They finished 13 for 20 in this game. Ohio State missed four of its final eight attempts and was 6 for its final 12, a stretch that included Thornton missing the front end of two one-and-one opportunities.
“Their physicality really bothered us there in the second half,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “Obviously we had trouble scoring and missed some free throws, but give them credit. Their defense was outstanding in the second half, and I think that was the biggest reason for some of our struggles. The missed free throws, they’re just that. We’ll get better with that.”
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McNeil, an 87.8% free-throw shooter, hit the only two he attempted. They were pivotal.
“I would say the biggest thing is everyone believes in me, players and staff, for one,” he said. “And I’ve put in a tremendous amount of work, as far as free throws go. It’s something that’s not hard. You go in there and shoot them. It’s something I end my workouts with them every time is free throws. So I believe in myself. I’ve got 14, 15 guys around me, coaching staff, that trust me to go to the line and knock them down.”
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