Tuesday, January 09, 2007

"Wisconsin, Ohio State? Take your pick"

The Wisconsin men's basketball team spent 39 minutes and 15 seconds Tuesday night proving it was the best basketball team in the Big Ten.

In the final 45 seconds, Ohio State nearly stole that moniker.

The Badgers built a lead as big as 16 and led by 14 after two Kammron Taylor free throws with 54 seconds remaining. The 3-point shooting Buckeyes, however, mounted a furious comeback that saw them come within a missed Jamar Butler triple at the buzzer of sending the contest to overtime.

Final score: Wisconsin 72, Ohio State 69.

Best team in the Big Ten: Wisconsin... for now.

Wisconsin took the lead for good at 7-6 and seemed in control of the contest the entire second half. The more experienced Badgers were clearly more mature than the Buckeyes. They had much better patience on offense, moving the ball around to find the good shot. OSU, on the other hand, was often content to chuck contested 3-pointers from NBA range.

Granted, the Buckeyes have some great long-range shooters, but it's not easy to beat a top-notch opponent without an inside presence.

Which is not something the Buckeyes lack. Ever heard of Greg Oden? If you haven't, you don't follow basketball.

Despite not being able to shoot with his injured right hand, Oden is still one of the conference's top inside players. Besides acting as a prolific shot-blocker, Oden can finish with his left hand down low and even shoots left-handed free throws at a somewhat decent clip (57 percent).

But on Tuesday Oden didn't make his first field goal until the 7:21 mark of the second half, with the Buckeyes trailing by double digits (he added two dunks in that final minute to finish with 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocks).

Not a bad night for an injured freshman. Not to mention an injured freshman who played the final seven minutes with four fouls. But Oden - and this is not entirely his fault; he needs to get the ball more often - could do so much more for this team.

Which is why Ohio State can only get better. Scary thought for the Badgers.

Wisconsin doesn't have the talent Ohio State possesses. Alando Tucker is a candidate to win the Naismith award, but he's surrounded by good (but not great) players. However, the Badgers could indeed go on to win the conference and get a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament because of their chemistry on the floor.

It starts at the guard position. While Tucker didn't shoot the ball great on Tuesday (8-for-17) and was atrocious from the free throw line (1-for-6), two of his boys had his back. Taylor shot 5-for-8 from the field and made 12 of 16 free throws to finish with a game-high 25 points and Michael Flowers shot 5-for-9 for 10 points and also ignited several fastbreaks with four steals.

If you look at past Big Ten champions, they haven't always had the best frontcourt, but their backcourt has always been rock solid. The same can be said of this year's Badgers.

Anyone who thinks Wisconsin will run away with this title is crazy. It's a two-man race (no other conference team is close to the caliber of these two squads) and it will come down to the end, most likely to the next time they meet in Columbus on Feb. 25.

It will be the second-to-last regular season game, and there'll be plenty at stake.

By then, considering how good of a coach OSU's Thad Matta is, the Buckeyes will be much better at getting the ball to Oden down low - instead of settling for 3's - and Oden, in turn, will be much better because he should be completely healthy and used to the rugged Big Ten style of play.

Wisconsin should be better too. Tucker will be making his final pitch for the Naismith Award and the Badgers' frontcourt players should be improved.

Tuesday night was just the beginning. This horse race is just rounding turn one.

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