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Preview: Wisconsin Badgers at Ohio State Buckeyes

By Trevor Jossart

Jan 12, 2017; Madison, WI, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard JaQuan Lyle (13) attempts to control the ball as Wisconsin Badgers forward Vitto Brown (left) defends at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin defeated Ohio State 89-66. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 12, 2017; Madison, WI, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard JaQuan Lyle (13) attempts to control the ball as Wisconsin Badgers forward Vitto Brown (left) defends at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin defeated Ohio State 89-66. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Wisconsin Badgers will try and keep pace in the Big Ten Thursday night.

A half game out of first place, the Wisconsin Badgers (22-5, 11-3) will visit Columbus on Thursday to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes (15-13, 5-10).

Wisconsin will be looking to re-tie the Purdue Boilermakers again for first. The Boilermakers are coming off an overtime victory on Tuesday over Penn State. Purdue will head to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan this week, a place where the Badgers fell last week without Bronson Koenig.

Ohio State is looking to make up ground in the Big Ten and avoid the opening round slate of games in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. Currently at 5-10 and losers of three straight, the Buckeyes are tied for second to last in the conference, but are within striking distance of getting out of the treacherous bottom four of the league.

Wisconsin has overall owned the Buckeyes in recent years, especially in Columbus. Their last meeting there came in 2015, where both teams were ranked. The Badgers took it to the Buckeyes, winning 72-48 in dominating fashion. Ohio State’s last win over the Badgers actually came in Madison in 2014, a 59-58 thriller going in the Buckeyes’ way.

The Badgers are fortunate enough to have point guard Bronson Koenig back, who missed one game with a calf injury that had been lingering and affecting his play for the last couple of weeks. He played 31 minutes in the team’s win over Maryland on Sunday, providing a spark of the bench and an offensive boost to the team’s slow start.

“I didn’t know how minutes I had played until I looked at the stat sheet after the game,” Koenig said, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “I was kind of surprised and surprised at how good I felt.”

In the previous meeting between the two, a Badgers 89-66 victory in Madison, Koenig led all scorers with 21 points.

Wisconsin will begin the first of two of their final road games of the year. The Badgers will head to East Lansing on Sunday to take on the Michigan State Spartans.

Next: TV times for remaining games

Wisconsin at Ohio State

  • Location: Columbus, Ohio
  • Time: 8:00 CT
  • TV: ESPN
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