Final Four: Four stats that matter from Ohio State’s 92-82 loss at Wisconsin

Things started out well for the Buckeyes (14-7, 6-5) Saturday afternoon in Madison, but they fizzled out throughout the game as the Badgers (16-6, 8-3) shot their way to a 92-82 win over the Buckeyes.

Ohio State got off to a 15-4 lead early, but the Badgers quickly rebounded to take a 49-43 lead into halftime.

The Badgers blitzed the Buckeyes with elite shooting in the first half. Wisconsin was 57% from the field overall and 7-15 from three-point range. Austin Rapp, coming off the bench, made five of those threes and scored 19 points in the first 20 minutes. Rapp had previously made four three-point shots total over his last six games before hitting five in the first half on Saturday.

Wisconsin scored 49 of its 92 points in the second half, keeping the game in a double-digit margin for most of the second 20 minutes.

Here are four stats that matter from today’s game:

1. 51.6%

Wisconsin had a really good day shooting the ball. The Badgers not only shot the ball well, but they took high-percentage shots throughout the game. When a team does that, more often than not they’re going to shoot the ball well.

John Blackwell was 8-of-13 in a 22-point effort Saturday to lead the Badgers. Even though Wisconsin was just 9-of-26 as a team from three-point range, the Badgers made up for it by getting good looks and converting them into 92 points.

Wiscosnin was 19-of-21 from the free-throw line, including an outstanding 17-of-19 in the second half. The Badgers averaged 1.4 points per possession and scored 42 points in the paint.

2. 10-0

Wisconsin’s largest run was 10-0. Ironically, it didn’t even give the Badgers the lead. It tied the game at 21-21 after the Buckeyes led 21-11 with less than 12 minutes remaining in the first half. The Badgers needed less than three minutes to tie the game after that.

With just over five minutes left in the first half, Wisconsin took the lead at 31-30. It never trailed again, increasing their lead to as many as 16 late in the second half.

3. 1-of-8

John Mobley Jr. was just one-of-eight from beyond the arc Saturday afternoon in Madison. He was 4-12 from the field overall in a nine-point effort for the game.

If the Buckeyes are going to keep up with the high-scoring offenses in the big Ten, Mobley is going to have to be more prolific and more efficient from beyond the arc, like he has been for most of the month of January before Saturday.

Ohio State was 10-of-29 from beyond the arc as a team.

4. 9 assists

The Buckeyes had just nine assists on 28 made field goals. While they only had seven turnovers, the Buckeyes couldn’t link ball movement to made field goals throughout the game.

Bruce Thornton and Ivan Njegovan each had two assists to lead the Buckeyes, with five other players each having one assist.

In contrast, Wisconsin had 16 assists on 32 made field goals. The Badgers also had only five turnovers.

Next Play

Ohio State is at Maryland Thursday night in College Park. That game will tip off at 8:30 E.T. on FS1.

Maryland is currently 8-12 overall and just 1-8 in the Big Ten. They host Purdue Sunday afternoon in a 1:00 tip on CBS.