Wisconsin Hands No. 5 Ohio State Second Straight Loss
Team with lopsided wins over Villanova, North Carolina and Kentucky aren't typically searching for an identity at this point in the college basketball season, but Ohio State is looking for that and other crucial answers after its second straight defeat.
Wisconsin made every key play down the stretch Friday to frustrate the Buckeyes in a 61-57 home loss that leave head coach Chris Holtmann searching for both his best lineup at crunch time and players committed to following his strategic plan.
"I think we have to try to figure that out," Holtmann said when asked if he knows the five he can trust under pressure. "I'm not sure we do know that."
OSU (11-3, 1-2) has precious little time to solve the mystery, given a Tuesday road game at No. 15 Maryland and a Saturday trip to Indiana.
Kaleb Wesson scored 22 points and Duane Washington Jr. 18, but the Buckeyes clearly missed junior forward and glue guy Kyle Young's toughness on the boards and on defense.
Young sat out following an appendectomy on Sunday, the evening Ohio State committed 22 turnovers and lost to West Virginia.
Had the Buckeyes won that game in Cleveland, they likely would have ascended from No. 3 to the nation's No. 1 ranking on Monday.
Instead, they've lost two straight and could plummet out of the Top 10, which isn't of as much concern to Holtmann as whether the ball we be where he wants it on game-deciding possessions.
"We should know that," he said. "We have a couple of guys who have to figure it out."
Although OSU reduced its turnovers to 14 against Wisconsin, both Washington and guard Luther Muhammed gave away possessions inside the four-minute mark with their team in front.
Wisconsin took the lead, 52-51, after the second of those mistakes and then followed a quick C.J. Walker drive to the hoop and missed reverse layup in traffic with two crucial plays at the other end.
The Badgers ran an inbounds play that freed Brevin Pritzl from Walker's coverage for a 3-pointer that built a 55-51 lead with 1:08 left.
Then, after Washington's triple countered for the Buckeyes, Travis Wahl rebounded teammate D'Mitrik Trice's missed jumper in the lane with 26 seconds left and got it back to Trice, who then hit two free throws when Muhammed was forced to foul.
Wesson missed a tying 3-point try from the key at :19 and Nate Reuvers preserved Wisconsin's win from there with four free throws.
So, the Badgers, just 9-5 overall, are in front of OSU in the Big Ten standings at 2-1, which no one expected after the way the Buckeyes blew through three of the sport's legacy programs.
Now OSU gets Maryland and Indiana on the road in a season where conference wins away from home have been scarce for everyone.
"Two good teams in league play," Holtmann said. "It's incumbent upon us as coaches and players to figure this out. Obviously, no one likes this feeling."
Washington made four of OSU's six three-pointers.
Otherwise, the Buckeyes shot 2-for-10 beyond the arc.
Freshman D.J. Carton, the catalyst in Ohio State's victory over Kentucky in Las Vegas, struggled for a second straight game with four turnovers, zero points and a minus-17 rating when on the floor.
Holtmann had no update on Young's availability for the coming week.
"Given the fact we had five offensive rebounds, I'm sure he would have helped," Holtmann said. "But we have good enough players to limit that. We have to coach them and get better."
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