How they lost: The Grateful Red and their rally towels were in full force Saturday as #13 Wisconsin gave undefeated #1 Ohio State its first loss of the season. The game was neck-and-neck in the first half. David Lighty’s lay-up in the waning seconds, off of pedestrian defense by Wisconsin, gave Ohio State a 28-26 lead at halftime.
The Buckeyes pulled out to a 40-30 lead in the first five minutes of the second half thanks in large part to William Buford and his silky smooth step-back jumper. He used the same move over and over, almost toying with the Badgers. Buford finished the game with 21 points.
By: Justin Mertes-Mistretta
Like he has done many times before this season, Buford became almost invisible offensively in the last 15 minutes of the game. Buford was dominant for the first 25 minutes of the game, scoring 19 points in that span. From that point on he only attempted four shots, making just one of them.
It certainly wasn’t Buford who lost the game for the Buckeyes. He just wasn’t there for Ohio State when it needed him the most. It was, however, the perimeter defense of OSU that was ultimately responsible for the loss.
The Buckeyes led by 15 points with a little over 13 minutes left to play. At this point it was becoming clear, evident by the crowd’s silence, that Ohio State was pulling away and may just go undefeated for the rest of the year.
Jordan Taylor had something to say about that. Taylor hit Wisconsin’s next four field goals, including two threes, to cut the deficit to only three points. “Carlton,” as coach Bo Ryan called Taylor in the post game conference, once again carried his team on his back Saturday. With 27 points, 21 of them coming in the second half, he proved that he deserves to be in the discussion for National Player of the Year.
Coach Ryan agrees, “He’s a pretty good player all through the season, but what he did right there I don’t know if there are too many players in the country that have ever done that.”
Taylor’s point guard counterpart, Aaron Craft, was disappointed in the outcome of their match-up. “Jordan is a great player,” Craft said. “I did my best, but he definitely got the better of me today.”
The Buckeyes would not let this game die, however. With under a minute to go, only down by four, Jared Sullinger went to the line to shoot two. Sullinger, who had been struggling as of late from the charity strip, nailed both of them.
With the Buckeyes only down two points, 65-63, they needed a big stop on 
the next possession. With all of the defensive attention on Taylor and Jon Leur, sophomore forward Mike Bruesewitz stepped up and hit a huge three-pointer to seal the deal for the Badgers.
In response to Bruesewitz’s big shot, Ohio State coach Thad Matta said, “Bruesewitz, that was the guy we were saying of the five let him be the guy that beats us and he did.”
Going Forward: Coach Matta put the loss in perspective. “We never talked about being 24-0, we just talked about trying to play better basketball,” Matta said. “It’s just one of those things, like I told the guys we’ve got to pick ourselves up and get going. I really think they’ll do that.”
It’s one thing for the head coach to say it and another for the players to buy into that philosophy. That is what makes this Ohio State team so good. Setting aside just how talented they are, for their age, these players are some of the most mature individuals that you will find.
This maturity and focus was evident in Craft’s view going forward: “I think we just have to move on,” Craft said. “We have a game Tuesday already, so we just have to move on, learn from it, and go onto that next game.”
It may sound cliche, but it’s exactly what this team needs to do. With the pressure of going undefeated out of the way and a favorable schedule (only two more road games left), Ohio State can focus on what’s really important: winning a national championship.
Justin Mertes-Mistretta is a senior editor for the Sports Bank.net mainly covering college basketball (Ohio State), fantasy football, NBA Playoffs, and the NFL. Follow him on twitter at MertesMist_tsb or check out his blog here.