Wisconsin stays hot with victory over Ohio State

John Blackwell had 22 points and Nick Boyd 21 as Wisconsin overcame a slow start for a 92-82 victory over Ohio State in a Big Ten matchup Saturday in Madison, Wis.

Wisconsin, which trailed by 11 early, rallied for 49-43 lead at the break behind Austin Rapp's 19 first-half points.

The Badgers maintained their advantage despite a scoring drought of almost 4 1/2 minutes before Boyd hit two free throws to make the score 62-52 with just over 11 minutes remaining.

Boyd hit four consecutive free throws to put Wisconsin up 80-67 with 4:54 left.

Nolan Winter had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Aleksas Bieliauskas added 10 points for Wisconsin (16-6, 8-3), which has won seven of its past eight games.

The Badgers, who improved to 12-2 at home, shot 51.6% from the field, hitting 32 of 62 shots, and had a 16-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

For Ohio State (14-7, 6-5), Amare Bynum had 18 points, and Bruce Thornton and Devin Royal added 17 apiece.

It was the second straight comeback victory for Wisconsin, which overcame a 35-17 halftime deficit for a 67-63 triumph over Minnesota on Wednesday.

Rapp had all 19 of his points in the first half on Saturday, including 5 of 6 beyond the arc, to pace Wisconsin's early rally.

Taison Chatman's 3-pointer brought the Buckeyes to 41-39 with 2:31 left in the first half, but the Badgers countered with six consecutive points, going in front 47-39 on Blackwell's layin.

Rapp had hit three consecutive 3-pointers to cap a 13-2 run that put Wisconsin in front 24-23 with eight minutes left in the half.

Chatman had hit a pull-up 3-pointer to put Ohio State in front 15-4 as Wisconsin hit just 2 of its first 11 shots. The Badgers finished the half at 57.1% from the field, hitting 20 of 35 shots, including 7 of 15 from deep.

Wisconsin played without starting guard Andrew Rohde (undisclosed injury).