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Ohio State ekes out win at Wisconsin

Feb 1, 2014 - 8:41 PM Madison, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - LaQuinton Ross scored 13 points, and No. 24 Ohio State edged 14th-ranked Wisconsin 59-58 in a matchup between struggling Big Ten squads at Kohl Center.

The Buckeyes survived following a wild sequence at the end of the game.

Amir Williams made 1-of-2 free throws to put Ohio State up 59-57 with 26 seconds remaining.

Traevon Jackson was fouled on a drive on the next Wisconsin possession. He made the first free throw before missing the second with 16.5 seconds left.

The Buckeyes got the rebound and were able to get the ball down the floor. Lenzelle Smith, Jr. missed a layup and then was called for a travel when he fell to the floor with the rebound, giving Wisconsin a chance to win the game.

Sam Dekker, however, missed an off-balanced 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"Probably the biggest thing was we gave quick help and got back and challenged what we needed to challenge," said Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta. "We went through that stretch early in the second half where we weren't rebounding, we were rotating, but we didn't rotate back to get the rebound. They did a good job of exploiting that on us."

Amedeo Della Valle scored nine of his 11 points during a first-half surge for Ohio State (17-5, 4-5 Big Ten), which went 2-5 in January.

Nigel Hayes had 17 points to lead the Badgers (17-5, 4-5), who have dropped five of six after starting a school-best 16-0.

"We have to find ways to make the ball bounce our way," Hayes said.

Wisconsin has lost three straight home games for the first time under Bo Ryan.

Ohio State went on a 9-0 run early in the second half to grab its first lead since the game's opening minutes. Ross supplied seven points during the burst and his trey made it 38-35.

After a brief back-and-forth exchange, Wisconsin ran off eight straight points to go up 51-44 with about nine minutes remaining.

Aaron Craft helped the Buckeyes rally as he poured in all seven of his points in the final four minutes. He sank two foul shots to give Ohio State a 57-56 lead with 1:36 to play.

The Badgers led by as many as eight twice in the first half, but Ohio State fought back behind Della Valle. The guard scored nine straight points for the Buckeyes, with his second trey closing the gap to 22-19.

Ben Brust hit a floater on a putback in the dying seconds and Wisconsin led 33-29 at halftime. It was the Badgers' only made field goal over the final five-plus minutes of the half.

Game Notes

The Buckeyes improved to 8-3 against Wisconsin when both teams are ranked ... Williams and Shannon Scott scored nine points apiece for Ohio State, which shot 47.8 percent in the second half and held Wisconsin to 36.0 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes ... The Badgers made only 3-of-17 from 3- point range ... Brust had 13 points and seven rebounds ... The Buckeyes outscored Wisconsin 26-12 in the paint.