No. 12 Ohio State Buckeyes Stifle Wisconsin Badgers Behind Big Second Half

The Ohio State Buckeyes continue to climb with an eighth-straight win.

The Buckeyes seemed locked in a close one.

No. 12 Ohio State trampled Wisconsin 87-49 Thursday thanks to a big third quarter for the Buckeyes’ defense.

Ohio State and Wisconsin were locked in a hard-fought battle in the first half. The Buckeyes couldn’t buy a bucket in the first 20 minutes, shooting 37 percent from the field and 13 percent from downtown. They led by just five.

Head coach Kevin McGuff and his squad did do a good job of penetrating the Badgers’ 2-3 zone, going high and finding the open man down low. They were just unable to finish at the rim.

Badger sophomore forward Serah Williams dominated the Buckeyes in the first half with 12 points and eight rebounds, including three offensive. Despite only getting those few herself, she affected every potential rebound, allowing the Badgers to total seven offensive rebounds in the first half.

But the No. 12 team in the country isn’t ranked for no reason. They came out like a whole new team — the team who beat then-No. 2 Iowa — into the second half off the bat.

The Buckeyes started off on a 22-5 run in less than five minutes thanks to their man press and packing the paint. They limited Williams, who finished with 16 and 11 rebounds, to just two points in the third.

The real difference was the 29 points they had off 12 forced turnovers in the third, as well as effectively boxing out Williams on both ends and getting offensive boards of their own. Ohio State scored a single quarter T-franchise school record 39 points on 67 percent from the field and 63 percent from beyond the arc.

Ohio State’s big win was thanks in part to 17 points from senior guard Jacy Sheldon, 15 and 10 rebounds from sophomore forward Cotie McMahon — a fourth-straight double-double — 10 from senior guard Celeste Taylor and a stellar 7-13 second-half shooting from downtown. Not to mention putting on a team ball clinic with 24 assists.

The Buckeyes also forced 27 Badger turnovers, a mark highly resembling the defense of last season’s suffocating Ohio State squad.

McGuff and the Buckeyes will look to extend their win streak to nine in a big conference battle Sunday against No. 10 Indiana in Columbus, streaming on Fox Sports 1.