Wisconsin basketball's game ending strategy against Ohio State came with mixed reviews

The Wisconsin Badgers were able to pull off the late-game defeat of the Ohio State Buckeyes 70-68. It came in the final seconds of a free-throw shooting contest. Both teams spent the last seconds of the game that stretched into real-life minutes, shooting at the line with the clock stopped. It was a coaching clinic for the "up three foul late" crowd. This is essentially what it sounds like: when a team is up three late in a game, they foul the other team, so the worst the opposing team can do is score two and not tie the game.

Greg Gard showed off the coaching philosophy of "foul, up three" at the end of the Ohio State game.

It was effective as Wisconsin was able to win the game and keep Ohio State from shooting threes but it was a brutal watch if you like flow to a game and/or the game not to drag on forever. The final eleven seconds of the game took forever. Thus, not everyone enjoyed what they were watching.

Coach Greg Gard said that it was the plan to finish the game that way in that situation. He said that they normally talk about doing it at seven seconds but they extended it to eleven seconds for this game due to the ability of Ohio State to shoot the three and generate fouls in the paint. "We haven't been in one of those in a while. We've practiced it a few times, but I think inbounding the ball makes me no more nervous than making free throws and executing."

Wisconsin leads the nation in free-throw shooting, so it's a strategy that Badger fans may have to get comfortable with. If the game is close at the end, the Badgers will want to use their biggest strength to secure the victory.

Wisconsin now heads to play USC and UCLA in Los Angeles on Saturday and Tuesday respectively.