Men's Basketball
Badgers Hold Off Late Buckeye Charge to Extend Streak
By John Porentas
Wisconsin's Mike Wilkinson scored 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting and the Badger team defense limited Ohio State to 42% shooting from the field to enable Wisconsin (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) to claim its 37th consecutive home win with a 72-66 win over Ohio State (12-4, 1-2 Big Ten).
Ohio State's Terence Dials dominated play early, scoring ten of Ohio State's first 14 points as the Buckeyes jumped out to an early 14-10 lead. The Buckeyes extended their lead to five at 20-15, but the Badgers went on a seven point run to take a two point lead at 22-20. The Buckeyes regained the lead at 26-25, but Wisconsin scored the last six points of the half to take a 31-26 halftime lead.
The Buckeyes hit just one-of-nine three point attempts in the first half and Dials sat out much of the first half with two fouls. Wisconsin's half-ending run was made with Dials on the bench.
The Badgers led by as-many-as 13 midway through the second half, but a late Buckeye rally closed the margin to just four at 65-61 with 56 seconds remaining in the game. The Badgers were able to not only protect their lead but extended it to six points by hitting seven-of-eight free throw attempts in the final 56 seconds of the game.
For the game, the Badgers outscored the Buckeyes from the free throw line, 16-5.
Wilkinson collected 10 rebounds to go with his 29 points to lead all player in both scoring and rebounding. Terence Dials finished with 15 points to pace the Buckeye scoring, and Matt Sylvester added 14. Guard Tony Stockman had a tough night shooting, hitting just four-of-17 attempts from the field for nine points. Stockman was one-for-nine from three point range.
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