Ohio State Buckeyes @ Wisconsin Badgers Preview and Gamethread

What: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

When: Saturday, February 4th; 2:00 p.m.

Where: Kohl Center; Madison, Wisconsin

Television: ESPN

Badgers Record: 18-5

Opposing Coverage: Bucky's Fifth Quarter

After dispatching Michigan at home last Sunday, Ohio State will face another challenger for the Big Ten crown when they face Wisconsin on the road Saturday. The Badgers are currently tied with Michigan for second place in the conference standings and should remain contenders until the end, possessing an impressive enough record against RPI Top 50 teams (6-4) to be considered legitimate competition for the Big Ten championship.

Traveling to the Kohl Center is no easy task, as Ohio State's history in the building can attest, yet two Big Ten teams have beaten the Badgers at home this season. Michigan State's tight victory over Wisconsin would not have been quite so damaging on its own if the loss had not taken place one game following Iowa's upset victory over the Badgers. Those two home losses, along with a road loss to Michigan, rang in the New Year on an off-pitch note for Wisconsin and set them back in the Big Ten race.

As expected, star senior guard Jordan Taylor has led the Badgers in scoring this season, averaging 14 points per game with a 39% field goal percentage. Besides Taylor, the bulk of Wisconsin's points comes from four players, Josh Gasser, forward Ryan Evans, combo forward/center Jared Berggren, and guard Ben Brust. Oddly, Evans and Berggren lead the Badgers in rebounding yet forward Mike Bruesewitz holds the team lead in offensive rebounds per game, averaging two per contest.

Wisconsin, in true Bo Ryan-fashion, shoots well, defends well, and does not turn the ball over. The Badgers have limited their opponents to 59 points per game, nine less than even Ohio State, and are decimal points behind Ohio State in offensive efficiency at 1.09 points per possession. For Ohio State, marginal two-point favorites, to win today, they must hammer the inside edge with Jared Sullinger and force Wisconsin to adjust to their athletes rather than slow down and attempt to beat the Badgers at their own game.

• Michigan head coach John Beilein has begun imitating his football counterpart and referring to Ohio State as just "Ohio" recently. Beilein denied changing his references to the Buckeyes deliberately, but Bob Baptist looked over his notes from last season and found that Beilein never shortened Ohio State's nomenclature before Brady Hoke arrived.
• Michigan defeated Indiana three days ago, keeping themselves afloat in the Big Ten race and submerging Indiana a bit deeper below the surface.
  
• Bob Baptist has an interesting piece in the Columbus Dispatch detailing LaQuinton Ross's struggles to get on the court. Former Ohio State player Scoonie Penn believes that Ross "might be a secret weapon we have come tournament time."
• Aaron Craft has been named to the Academic All-District team for his 3.89 GPA in Exercise Science.
  
• Be careful the next time you purchase tickets to a Buckeye basketball game. Ohio State recently released a press release to make the public aware of a string of ticket counterfeits they've discovered. The university advises people to only purchase tickets from approved sources, which they define as "the ticket office at the Schottenstein Center, ohiostatebuckeyes.com, or Ticketmaster outlets in stores, online or via telephone."