It looked to be smooth sailing for the previously unbeaten Ohio State Buckeyes as they built a 15 point second half lead in Madison against the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers Saturday afternoon. Wisconsin caught fire behind the arch in mounting an incredible comeback that led to Ohio State’s first loss of the season 71-67.

With just over 13 minutes to go in the second half, the Ohio State Buckeyes (24-1) were blitzing the Badgers with a 23-6 run that stretched all the way back to the first half. It was 47-32 when Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor connected on a two point jumper and David Lighty was called for his third  foul. With Ohio State’s best defender on the bench, the terrific point guard for Wisconsin torched the Buckeyes. Taylor connected on consecutive 3-pointers to cut the lead to seven, and by the time Lighty made it back into the game, Wisconsin had whittled the lead down to five. With momentum clearly on the Badgers side, Taylor completely took over. The Badgers had erased Ohio State’s lead in just over five minutes, and after drawing even, Wisconsin continued their run by scoring seven more unanswered points to take a 62-55 advantage. The 22 point swing was too much for Ohio State to overcome.

The star of the game didn’t give up when Ohio State went up by 15, "We knew we had a run in us,"  Taylor said. After scoring just six points in the first half, the Badgers needed Taylor to have a huge second half for them to have a chance. The junior scored 21 points in the second, many of them during that five minute stretch as he finished with a game-high 27.

With a rowdy Wisconsin crowd looking for their second win over an undefeated and top ranked Buckeyes squad this year (the Badger football team handed Ohio State its only loss of the season four months ago), everything from the bounce of the ball to the energy in the building was going Wisconsin’s way. When the final buzzer sounded, the fans rushed the court just as they had the football field four months earlier, "There's so many people trying to get closer and closer. It's like suffocating," Wisconsin’s Jon Leuer said. "It's fun to celebrate."

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The Ohio State Buckeyes pushed the nation’s longest winning streak to 24 on Sunday afternoon by beating the Minnesota Golden Gophers 82-69. In front of a sold-out Williams Arena, the Buckeyes used incredible balance on the offensive end to wear down the 20th ranked team in the country.

David Lighty and Jared Sullinger headlined a strong performance by the Buckeyes that saw all five starters score in double digits. Lighty had a game-high 19 points while adding three rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sullinger started the game slowly on offense but finished strong with 18 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Buford finished with 15 while Lauderdale and Diebler both added 10.

The game started with both teams clicking on offense. Minnesota got things underway by connecting on their first two shots while Ohio State countered by hitting three of their first four. Ohio State was shooting well on the perimeter and connected on four of their first six 3-pointers. Lighty in particular was impressive as he showed a ton of aggression when driving the ball. His dedication to taking his man off the dribble paid off as he scored 13 points through 15 minutes of play on 6-7 shooting. Sullinger didn’t have to do much because Ohio State’s backcourt took control of the game scoring 28 of the Buckeyes’ 38 first half points.

Ohio State used a 13-3 run midway through the first half to build a 12 point lead. At that point, the Buckeyes were up 28-16 and in complete control of the game. Minnesota would make a small run before the end of the half, but Ohio State still managed to take a 38-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.

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23-0. There are four road games and three tough home contests left on the regular season schedule, and then the conference tournament follows. Surely Thad Matta’s Buckeyes are going to drop a game or two. Aren’t they?

Thursday’s tight win over Michigan (3-7) proved that even a sub-500 conference opponent can put a scare into No. 1, if the favorites come out flat. Once again though, the opponent had no answer for Jared Sullinger in crunch time, and the second fastest start ever for Ohio State continued with a 62-53 win over the Wolverines. But projecting 34-0?  Nah. Can’t happen.

For the 2010-2011 Buckeyes, key players have bad games and these guys still win. They count on freshmen to play important roles, and somehow get by. And they have a guy who can just flat take over in the late going.  But still, it’s just a matter of when they’ll drop one, not if they’re going to. Right?

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After finding themselves in a position they rarely get into, the Ohio State Buckeyes had to dig deep in order to overcome Michigan’s six point second half lead. An 11-2 run fueled Ohio State’s comeback as the Buckeyes won their 23rd straight game 62-53.

The Buckeyes (23-0) used strong performances from Jared Sullinger and William Buford in the second half to carry them to victory. Sullinger was the game’s best player, scoring 19 points while grabbing 15 rebounds, but Buford’s 13 points were pivotal to Ohio State’s success.

“Every shot I shoot, I expect it to go in.,” Buford said after the game. “It just went down in the second half.”

As Buford hinted, the Buckeyes were able to close strong -- but the first 30 minutes of game time didn’t go so well for Ohio State. After racing out to a 7-0 lead, the Buckeyes slowed offensively while making uncharacteristic mistakes on defense. After forcing Michigan to miss five of their first six shots, the Wolverines found their stroke and connected on six of their next seven to tie the game at 14. The two teams traded buckets before Michigan took the lead for the first  time 20-19. The Buckeyes turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, which is just under their average for an entire game this season. This resulted in eight fast-break points for Michigan and the Wolverines were able to take a 26-23 lead into halftime.

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