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Wisconsin tops Ohio State, continues road success

Feb 25, 2008 - 3:21 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Normally known for its near invincibility at the Kohl Center, Wisconsin has become a beast on the road.

Jason Bohannon scored 16 points and Michael Flowers added 14 as the 10th-ranked Badgers pulled out a 58-53 victory at Ohio State in the Big Ten Conference on Sunday.

Marcus Landry added 10 points for Wisconsin (23-4, 13-2 Big Ten), which improved to 7-1 in conference road games this season. In doing so, it took over sole possession of first place in the Big Ten ahead of idle Indiana and Purdue, both 12-2.

The Badgers have normally done their damage in the Big Ten at home, going 52-3 in conference games at the Kohl Center in seven seasons under coach Bo Ryan.

However, Wisconsin has picked up its play on the road this season behind a scoring defense that ranks second in the nation at 55.4 entering Sunday's matchup.

That defensive success took a slight hit in the first half, as the Buckeyes shot 46 percent (13-of-28) en route to knotting the game at 32-32 at the half. Othello Hunter had nine points inside in the opening 20 minutes.

"This was a game with two competitive teams. It was a hard-fought game," Ryan said. "It was tough to get good looks at the basket. This kind of basketball can help you later."

However, the Badgers picked it up after the break, limiting the Buckeyes to 21 points.

Behind that defensive effort, Wisconsin was able to take control of the game for good behind a 7-0 run, pulling ahead 56-49 with 5:08 remaining. Bohannon started the run with one of his four 3-pointers.

Ohio State (17-10, 8-6) answered back with four points to make it a one-possession game but could get no closer, losing for the fourth time in its last six games.

"I thought we gave a great effort," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "We knew what we had in a team like Wisconsin. All week we knew we were going to have to make plays. Some of the looks we had just didn't go down."

With 31 seconds left, the Buckeyes called a second timeout to set up a potential game-tying play, however, Jamar Butler's 3-pointer from the left wing missed badly.

Although Ohio State went to a press, Wisconsin broke it easily, leading to a dunk by Landry for the final margin.

Overall, the Buckeyes missed nine of their final 10 shots en route to shooting 27 percent (7-of-26) after halftime.

"We got inside and didn't finish, we had some things in transition that didn't fall," Matta said. "Coming out of the timeout we couldn't convert."

The Badgers won for the fifth straight time on the road although leading scorer Brian Butch mustered just nine points after being saddled with four troubles.

Bohannon stepped up to fill in for Butch, finishing 6-of-10 from the field - 4-of-6 on 3-pointers - on the way to scoring in double figures for the fifth straight game. The sophomore guard entered the contest averaging 7.9 points.

Butler finished with 14 points and five assists.

Freshman Kosta Koufos had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Buckeyes, who held a 34-31 advantage on the boards.