Wisconsin vs. Ohio State, Second Half

This second half is brought to you by Eric of The Extrapolater. 

Vanderbilt beat Kentucky, look slike they’re for real in the SEC.

Louisville took out UConn in Storrs.

Starting the 2nd half

5:07 - In the first half, Billy Packer was talking about Odens “behind” and I’ve been too stunned to think about it until now.

5:10 - Flowers goes down with an ankle.  This is looking very bad for the Badgers.  They’ve lost their third and fourth-leading scorers so far in this game.  If the injuries pile up, this one game could have far-reaching implications.

Oden is starting to touch the ball inside on every play, even if he has to pass it back out.  That’s the ticket for OSU, no doubt about it.

5:13 - Surprise, Surprise, it’s Alando in disguise!!  He takes the alley-oop for a monster dunk - he was wide open.  It’s 26-all.  Tucker has 10.

5:15 - Jamar Butler scores his first basket of the day, Oden blocks another, and Conley scores it on the fast break.  That was a quick 4 points!

Man, I’m a genius, I just posted most of the second half on Extrapolater instead of here.  I don’t know how Mike keeps track of having two blogs!

5:19 - A couple of quick buckets gets OSU 4 points in a hurry.  It’s now 31-26, and Oden’s defense is starting to take over the game.  He gets Tucker to pick up his third foul while fighting for a rebound.

5:25 - Bohannon knocks down a three.  He’s really picking up the slack for the injured Wisconsin players.

32-29 for OSU.

Lots of banging inside, and Oden picks up his second.  It’s great to see big men battle so hard.  They know what this game means.

5:27 - Flowers obviously recovered from his ankle injury, he’s back in the game.

A Badger alley-oop goes terribly awry.  It’s 34-29 with twelve minutes to play.

5:31 - Oden walks and takes the fun out of a nasty dunk.  Seeing as how it didn’t count and all.

Taylor nails a three and we’re tied at 34.  I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!

Lighty takes it up strong for the Buckeyes and puts them back on top by 2.

Bohannon nails a three on the other end not 8 seconds later.  Verne reminds us that he is 18 years old, and therefore unconscious.

Flowers takes some kind of amazing shot, dribbling around almomst the entire OSU team.

Thank goodness for this commercial break, I can barely keep up!

5:35 - Wisconsin 39, OSU 36  This is shaping up to be a very interesting finish, as we’re at the 9 minute mark.

Chappell gets his fourth, which is the by-product of his incredibly tough defense on Oden the past few minutes.  He’s kept the ball out of Greg’s hands and not been overwhelmed by the physicality.  Really nice job, but he has to hit the pine now.

Harris puts the Buckeyes back up by one with a trifecta.  40-39.

Conley wisely slows down the offense on the way back down the court, but Harris misses the shot.

Taylor hits one to see-saw that lead once again.  OSU misses.

5:39 - Both teams are starting to miss shots here and there, I think the grind is starting to wear them down.

Bohannon is pulling his Gerry McNamara act and canning every three he gets his hands on.  He’s 3/3 behind the arc.

Oden travels again and Matta is in danger of getting a T arguing his case. 

Commercial break, while we attempt to discern if it is possible for a future #1 NBA draft pick to use big-league traveling rules while still in college.  You know, for the good of the game.

5:45 - They’re playing Ozzy in the OSU arena.  I don’t know why, but that strikes me as incomparably cheesy.

5 minutes left to play, and both teams are getting more cautious.  Tucker misses a shot and OSU takes it downcourt slowly.

Oden gets his third by suplexing Taylor as he goes for a long rebound.

Dick and Packer think Oden’s tired.  I have to agree.  That was a particularly needless foul.

Conley scores and it’s 46-44 in favor of the Badgers before Oden slams it home and gets the foul.  We’re tied going into the break with Oden shooting one on the other side.

5:50 - Wisconsin has 19 bench points to OSU’s 6, but that’s to be expected with the injuries their starters have suffered.

Finally Oden is shooting this free throw.  That was an interminable TV time-out.

OSU is up 1 point 47-46, with 2 to play.  Bohannon comes back in the game, and they’re going to need his stroke if Wisconsin is to win this game.

Butler charges on the next possession, and Wisconsin takes it back down the court deliberately.  OSU is guarding the perimeter more than the inside right now.  Wisconsin gets four shots in close and misses all, but they get EVERY, SINGLE, REBOUND.  Astonishing.  They call a timeout after their 4th offensive rebound of the posession.  Good choice.

5:55 - Bohannon gets a nice assist when OSU creeps up to stop his jumper.  He gets it straight inside.  This is the good kind of freshman.

Wisconsin up 48-47, and OSU misses two shots before Chappell blocks one and Wisconsin gets the rebound.

OSU’s guards almost collide, and their fans are booing.  28 seconds left, and Wisconsin has it up 1. 

Will either team break 50 points tonight?

Conley fouls on the inbounds, so Kammron Taylor gets the big free-throws in front of a very rowdy student section for OSU.

He misses!  That’s huge!

5:58 - 16 seconds left, and OSU inbounds.  Conley gets in in the backcourt.  Conley scores the floater - nice shot under pressure!

Another timeout with only 4 seconds left.

6:00 - OSU up by one 49-48.  Who takes the shot for Wisconsin?  Obviously they want Bohannon, because there’s very little time to get it inside.  But OSU knows that.  3.9 seconds left and Wisconsin has to go the length of the floor.

Flowers bobbles the inbounds pass and they have to call timeout to avoid the penalty.

Will they throw the bomb, or try to bring it upcourt against pressure (the Tyus Edney)?

Taylor rejects the shot and OSU wins it.  49-48.  Tough break for Wisconsin, but what a way to play the Buckeyes at home.  Ron Lewis is the hero, and the idjit Buckeye fans storm the court.  As Mighty MJD says on today’s Deadspin: “This ain’t Nam, Smokey, there’s rules to storming the court!”

OSU will get a well-deserved #1 spot out of this (or retain it, if you’re looking at the ESPN poll over the AP).

The Buckeyes’ Ivan Harris is our top scorer with 13, and Oden and Conley join him in double figures for Ohio State.

Wisconsin rode the hot shooting of Bohannon, who had 11, and Tucker and Taylor had 12 and 10, respectively.

Thanks for having me over, Mike, what a great college game!

Wisconsin vs. Ohio State Live-Blog

Eric from The Extrapolater here 

Some writers aren’t as excited for this matchup as they should be. The Badgers’ loss to Michigan State earlier in the week has tarnished the luster, they say. I say horsefeathers. Until the new polls come out on Monday, this is still a 1 vs 2 matchup, and we’ll be seeing two of the best college basketball players in the country, as well as two of the best teams.

And they are teams. Let’s not forget that. Greg Oden missed several games early in Ohio State’s season, and they played pretty well without him. He is the Buckeyes’ best player, averaging nearly a double-double on the season, but he is far from being the only player of note. Four Buckeyes are averaging double figures over the course of the season, and Mike Conley is an assist machine.

Wisconsin is getting big numbers from Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor, but there’s a significant dropoff after that. There’s no doubt that a superior player can take over a game, but Wisconsin will have to play amazing defense to keep Ohio State in check.

The raw numbers tell me that Ohio State has to be the favorite. They have more scoring options, a rebounding edge, and seem to know what to expect out of their rotation at this point in the season. I happen to agree with Bob Knight that one-and-out players are not really good for college basketball in the long run, but if I get a season to watch one of the best play in front of students, I’m just going to have to grit my teeth and bear it.

See you at 4!

4:00-4:10  Always nice to have to watch Duke shoot free throws in a blowout of an inferior opponent instead of the game all of America actually wants to see.

4:15  When the commercials are over and the game finally comes on, it’s OSU 3, Wisconsin 5 with roughly 16 minutes left in the game.

Taylor misses a jumper, and Flowers feeds Oden, who scores over two Badgers.

Taylor comes back with a three for Wisconsin, so they lead 8-5

4:18 Conley fakes the hell out of his man and takes it in the lane to bring OSU within one point.  He is QUICK!  Krabbenhoff fouls and we go to a commercial break at 8-7 for Wisconsin.

4:20 The 300 looks like it could be an interesting enough movie, but that bearded guy just shouts the whole time!  They could call it the Dick Vitale story.

4:25 Wisconsin is outrebounding OSU - that belies my early prediction that OSU had a huge advantage in that stat category.

4:22  A badly missed three by Cook for OSU.  it’s 12-9 for Wisconsin. 

Wow, what a babe cheerleader.  BUCKEYE!!!

4:25  Ohio State is missing a lot of shots, and not feeding Oden like they should.  I’m seeing lots of midrange jumpers, which seems absurd from a team with a dominant center.  The ball at least has to go into his hands, even if he just passes out again.

Wisconsin has 10 rebounds, and we’re just going under 10:00 in the first half.

4:30  Butch for Wisconsin is hurt.  It looks like a hyperextended funny bone.  Sorry, bad joke, but he did smack his elbow on the court pretty hard.  He’s leaving the court, so it must be more serious than I thought.

Oden hits the jumper - nice shooting touch for a big man.  He has 4 points on 2/3 shooting.  Look for that to change!

4:35  OSU forces a shot clock violation in a nice defensive effort.

Krabbenhoff loses a contact.  Why is it that Wisconsin players always LOOK like Vikings?  I assume they recruit nationally.

Ron Lewis scores to cut the lead to 15-13 for the Badgers.  Time for a commercial.

4:37  The Badgers are outrebounding the buckeyes 13-5.  And they’re only up by two.  If Oden gets in gear, there could be trouble, but right now Wisconsin is doing what they must.

4:42  Oden gets a huge block, and doesn’t even look like he had to try.  He scores it on the other end, now has 6.  Score is 23-19 for OSU.

Oden is getting untracked, he altered another shot and even saved the ball before it went out of bounds.

Oden dongs a right-handed hook, it’s 15-14.  Harris from OSU hits a three and the lead is gone, it’s now OSU 17-Wisconsin 15.

4:45 Oden is starting to get untracked.  He’s had two big blocks (didn’t even look like it cost him any effort) and scored after one defensive play to give himself 6 points.

4:48  Butch comes back in a sling, and he’s obviously done.  He’s crying on the bench, which tells me he knows it’s serious.

We’re under 3 minutes left in the first half.  It’s 23-19 for the Buckeyes.  They’re packing the middle to keep Tucker out of his comfort zone, and it’s working.  Tucker just got an offensive foul trying to get inside.

4:50  OSU defense is keeping them on top with Oden on the bench.  That seems huge, to know you can put your best player on the bench for a rest and know you can hold the lead.

Oden back in with 41 seconds left.  It’s 25-20 for the Buckeyes, and they have the ball and can hold for the last shot.

This game has been pretty close, but I wouldn’t say it’s been a thriller.  The crowd doesn’t seem to be as hyped as I’d expect.

Oden gets triple-teamed and dribbles the ball off an opponent’s foot and out of bounds.  Oden misses a final-shot attempt and gets a seat on the bench.

Wisconsin’s freshman guard Bohannon gets inside quick and drops a reverse layup at the buzzer to make it a respectable margin of 25-22 going into the locker room.

And that’s halftime!  I’m hoping for a few runs and a vocal crowd in the second half.

Wisconsin - Tucker has 8pts, 3 rebounds, so he’s still getting his looks against that D.

OSU - Ivan Harris has 8 pts (two 3 pointers get you there pretty quickly), and Oden has 6 with 2 blocks.