Despite earning a 17-point halftime lead, Wisconsin's matchup with Ohio State came down to the wire Tuesday.
A prolonged offensive drought paired with an iffy defense led to the Buckeyes' comeback, but a scoring burst from John Tonje and a handful of free throws in the final minutes buried OSU and landed coach Greg Gard his 200th career win.
Gard became the fourth Badgers' head coach to reach the milestone, joining Bo Ryan (364), Bud Foster (265), and Doc Meanwell (246) atop the list. The milestone victory didn't come without its fair share of stressors for the ninth-year head coach.
Wisconsin's defense held Ohio State to just 20 points in the first half on 9-28 shooting and limited star point guard Bruce Thornton (17.1 ppg) to two points. Yet, Thornton finished with 21 points and scored the Buckeye's first seven points of the second half, sparking OSU's offense.
Although the Badgers built a significant first-half lead, they struggled to make shots in the period. 13 of Wisconsin's 37 first-half points came at the charity stripe, and they shot 2-for-11 from three-point range. So, when the free throw well ran dry in the second half, Wisconsin's offense fell into a lull.
John Tonje, who led Wisconsin with 17 points, helped drag the offense out of the lull with five minutes to play, scoring seven straight for the Badgers and pushing the Wisconsin advantage to eight points. However, Wisconsin's offense would go scoreless over the next four minutes, allowing Ohio State to pull within one point with 16 seconds to play, following a layup by Micah Parrish.
OSU intentionally fouled John Blackwell after the basket, and Blackwell missed the first shot of the one-and-one. The loose ball was tipped toward mid-court, where Kamari McGee corralled it and got fouled.
Mcgee sunk his two attempts at the line, and the Badgers opted to foul up three. The teams would exchange intentional fouls, combining to make eight straight during this stretch and resulting in a one-point game with three seconds left. and Wisconsin in possession.
The Badgers inbounded the ball to Blackwell, who temporarily broke free before being fouled with 1.5 seconds to play. After missing the first, Blackwell was instructed to miss the second in order to avoid Ohio State setting up an out of bounds play. The sophomore guard made the shot, giving the Buckeyes an opportunity.
OSU went for the full-court heave to Devin Royal, who caught the ball and got up a turn-around three-pointer. However, a whistle interrupted the shot, as Royal stepped on the line before taking off, clinching the Wisconsin victory.
Blackwell's late missed free throws were his only missed attempts at the line, as he finished with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists. Steven Crowl continued his strong stretch of play, compiling 14 points and seven boards.
As a team, Wisconsin shot 20-48 (41.7%) from the field and 5-for-22 (22.7%) on three-pointers and committed 12 turnovers. Still, it was a victory for the Badgers at the Kohl Center, pushing their overall record to 14-3 and making them 4-2 in conference play.
Wisconsin, now riding a six-game win streak, will head out on a West Coast road trip, which will start Saturday at USC.