Wisconsin at Ohio State

Sunday, February 25th, 4:00 PM
Nationally on CBS (most likely in HD)
(#1/#2) Wisconsin at (#2/#1) Ohio State

OSU likely starters, stat leaders
Mike Conley Jr., 6'1" guard, 6.5 assists/game
Ivan Harris, 6'7" forward
Jamar Butler, 6'2" guard, 30.6 minutes/game
Greg Oden, 7'0" center, 15.5 points/game, 9.7 rebounds/game
Ron Lewis, 6'4" guard or Daequan Cook, 6'5" guard

Wisconsin likely starters, stat leaders
Jason Chappell, 6'10" senior forward
Michael Flowers, 6'2" junior guard, 3.1 assists/game
Kamron Taylor, 6'2", senior guard, 32.4 minutes/game
Brian Butch, 6'11", junior forward/center, 6 rebounds/game
Alando Tucker, 6'6", senior forward, 20.2 points/game

This is the last home game of the season for Ohio State. It will be quite a send-off for seniors Ron Lewis and Ivan Harris. Never before have two Big Ten teams, ranked #1 and #2 faced off in a game. Tickets have been difficult to find. The importance of this game has been slightly diminished with Wisconsin's loss to Michigan State this week, which gave OSU the lead in the conference. The winner will get at least a share of the Big Ten season title, and most likely a #1 seed in the Big Ten and NCAA tournament.

Wisconsin won the first contest, which was in Madison back in early January. In that game, Ohio State was down by 16 points with 9.5 minutes left in the game. In the last 45 seconds Ohio State rallied from 10 points down, to get as close as 71-69 with 8.9 seconds left. In that closing minute, the Buckeyes fouled the Badgers on every possession, which almost worked as Wisconsin went 3 of 7 at the line, Ron Lewis hit two threes and Greg Oden had two dunks. Wisconsin missed the second of two free throws and Ohio State had chance to tie, but Jamar Butler's three missed as time expired. Looking at the box score, it looks like it was close with OSU getting 38 rebounds to Wisconsin's 39, however Wisconsin had 13 offensive rebounds and 14 second-chance points in the second half.

In Oden's 30 minutes on the court he only took six shots. He is moving much better now than in early January, and he will likely take and hit more shots. The team as a whole hit only 38% of their shots, this will likely change in a home game. Look for Ron Lewis and Ivan Harris to play big roles, as this is their last game in Columbus. Harris lead the team against Wisconsin with 17 points. The Buckeyes are still struggling to involve Greg Oden in their offense. He needs more touches and more shots. Look for more teams to use the spread, since conference floormat Penn State kept using that strategy. I heard something on TV, that I think needs mentioned for this game, "Wisconsin is the type of team that will keep taking punches and take you to the final round, while Ohio State is the type of team that is always looking for the knockout punch." The Badgers are a very well coached, experience, and disciplined team and they could very easily win Sunday if Ohio State is not on top of their game. The motion offense run by Wisconsin is quite effective. This Ohio State team has so much talent and potential, but their youth shows when they struggle to finish off a team. I hope the fans in the Schott do their part as the 6th man, the seniors come through, and OSU beats Wisconsin.