COLUMBUS, Ohio. — Five seasons, five top-5 takedowns for
Greg Gard and the Badgers. Wisconsin won its fourth straight and added a signature win on Friday by taking down No. 5 Ohio State, 61-57, in Columbus.
Trailing 51-47 with 4:30 remaining, Wisconsin rallied late, scoring the next eight points, including a big corner 3-pointer from
Brevin Pritzl to take the lead and never look back.
Nate Reuvers scored 17 points and Kobe King added 13 points to fuel the Badgers attack.
Reuvers' jumper gave the Badgers (9-6, 2-1 Big Ten) a 52-51 lead with 1:54 left, and late free throws from Reuvers and D'Mitrik Trice sealed the win.
Wisconsin tallied its eight win over a top-10 team under Gard, including five against the top-5.
Ohio State (11-3, 1-2), lost for the fifth time in the last seven games against Wisconsin despite 22 points and 13 rebounds from Kaleb Wesson. But Wesson missed a 3-pointer at the 2-minute mark that likely would have kept the Buckeyes in the game.
Ohio State became the second top-5 team in the AP Top 25 to lose this week after No. 4 Oregon fell at Colorado on Thursday night.
Wisconsin led by four at halftime of a sloppy, slow game, but Ohio State ripped off back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second half to start a 13-2 run.
The Badgers continued battling back until Reuvers got them the lead late. Wisconsin finished with 10 turnovers, but had zero in the final 15:07 of the contest.
Both teams started slowly and struggled from the field throughout. Wisconsin missed its first five shots and finished at 38% from the field, and Ohio State shot 40%.
BIG PICTURE
Wisconsin: The Badgers stayed in the game despite poor shooting and secured a satisfying win to start the long stretch of Big Ten games.
Ohio State: Playing without 6-foot-9 power forward Kyle Young, who is recovering from appendix surgery, Wesson had to carry the load inside. The Buckeyes missed Young and couldn't finish off a game they probably should have won.
UP NEXT
Wisconsin: Hosts Illinois on Wednesday night.
Ohio State: At Maryland on Tuesday night.
The AP contributed to this article.
