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| This time it was basketball |
For the second time in the last 6 months, the Badgers have knocked the #1 Buckeyes of their pedestal to grab bragging right between the two schools. Nightmares of Florida crept back into my head after this one though it was a little less painful than losing two national titles to the same team. Either way, Wisconsin is quickly becoming enemy number one for Buckeye nation. If any entrepreneur out there has Bo Ryan and Bret Bielema piñatas for sale I would be happy to place a large order, possibly enough to put your children through college.
The Buckeyes went into the Kohl Center with hopes of extending their unbeaten streak to 25 games only to be let down by questionable defense, spotty shooting and the refs (yeah I went there). I hate blaming the referees as much as the next guy but there was some highly questionable calls in this game. The biggest ones were the “jump ball” that was called 8 milliseconds on Sully and the 3 second violations that were never made on the Wisky big men. John Leuer practically made the paint his own personal campground with no worries of a whistle being blown. I had the pleasure of listening to some of the game on the radio and there were times that I thought Keels was going to have a coronary brought on by some of these calls. We all know Paul is a pretty laid back dude so the vigor at which he complained was an indication to how questionable some calls were.
Unfortunately you can’t blame the whole thing on the refs.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 15 point advantage early in the second half and could not hold on. In fact that double digit lead was gone faster than an unattended laptop at the Auburn practice facility (though about going with a Bobby Brown drug reference but realized this is a family site). Once the Badgers finally found their shooting touch, especially Jordan Taylor, OSU could not keep pace. UW rattled off a 15-0 run to tie the game and never looked back. Buford had the best afternoon racking up 21 for the good guys but the supporting cast just wasn’t there today.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 15 point advantage early in the second half and could not hold on. In fact that double digit lead was gone faster than an unattended laptop at the Auburn practice facility (though about going with a Bobby Brown drug reference but realized this is a family site). Once the Badgers finally found their shooting touch, especially Jordan Taylor, OSU could not keep pace. UW rattled off a 15-0 run to tie the game and never looked back. Buford had the best afternoon racking up 21 for the good guys but the supporting cast just wasn’t there today.
In the grand scheme of things this loss isn’t as bad as it feels right now. It would have been nice to run the table but the chances of that were slim to none to start the season. As long as the bucks don’t dwell on this one too long and take care of business the rest of the way a #1 seed in Cleveland is well within reach. I have heard some say that it was better for OSU to lose a couple before the calendar turned to March. I don’t necessarily agree with that sentiment as winning is the goal in EVERY game but I can see the point. It just sucks that the first one had to come to Wisconsin who is our new biggest rival in everything (maybe not but it sure feels like it today). Hopefully payback is a bitch when the Badgers come calling a short 2 weeks from now in C-Bus.
