Written by David Regimbal

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The last time Ohio State and Wisconsin met on the court, Jordan Taylor and the Badgers caught  fire behind the arch to rush past the Buckeyes. When the two teams got together for the rematch Sunday evening, it was Ohio State who couldn’t miss from 3-point land.

The Buckeyes set NCAA records in both 3-point field goal percentage (93.3 percent) and consecutive 3-pointers made (14) in a 93-65 beat down of the Wisconsin Badgers.

Diebler missed Ohio State’s first 3-pointer just over six minutes into the game. After that, the Buckeyes connected on 14 straight three’s in a thorough thrashing of the No. 10 team in the country. The Buckeyes closed out the season vindicating one of their two losses while celebrating the Big Ten regular season conference championship.

“I don’t know if you could script it much better,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “It was incredible how well we shot the basketball... “

But when Jon Diebler was asked about Ohio State’s 3-point percentage, he offered an apology, “I told [David Lighty] I apologize for missing one. That was my bad.”

I think Diebler’s teammates will find a way to forgive him, mainly because he was the catalyst for Ohio State’s tremendous 3-point shooting. The senior made half of Ohio State’s three’s in shooting 7-8 behind the arch. Diebler finished the game with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. This came just five days after he broke Ohio State’s record for 3-pointers made in a game by connecting on 10 of his 12 triples against Penn State on Tuesday.

When asked to talk about his incredible week shooting the ball, Diebler said, “I don’t know. I’m just getting a little bit of daylight. They’re doing a good job of screening and getting me the ball. I don’t know how to explain it, just like at Penn State.”

Buford added three 3-pointers, Lighty had two, and both Deshaun Thomas and Jordan Sibert had one coming off the bench. The Buckeyes made three’s at a nauseating, breath-taking pace that confounded Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan.

“14 of 15. I don’t think people do that very often,” Ryan said. “I thought we shot the ball well against them at our place, but what they did today is just unheard of.”

Overall, the Buckeyes shot the ball very well, connecting on a season-high 68% of their field goals (32-47). Sullinger finished the game with 22 points and 8 rebounds, Buford had 18 points, five rebounds and four assists and Lighty finished with 13 points and six rebounds. While he didn’t score a ton, Craft chipped in just three points but added six assists against zero turnovers.

It was an all around performance from a team that wanted to avenge its first loss of the season. Sullinger in particular was looking forward to this game ever since he walked off the court in Madison, when one of the fans storming the court spit in his face. Before the game, Sullinger said he wanted to beat the Badgers by 50. After the game, basking in the glow of Ohio State’s 28 point victory, he was asked about his pre-game comments.

“If we could, we would. Wisconsin’s a good team. That first loss I didn’t take too lightly,” Sullinger said. “I wanted to win, and I wanted to win big.”

Sullinger got his wish as Ohio State handed Wisconsin its worst loss in 10 seasons. The 28 point margin of victory was the largest over a Wisconsin team since Illinois beat the Badgers by 32 during the 2001-2002 season. It was probably Ohio State’s most dominant performance in a year filled with them.

After trading buckets in the first 10 minutes, the Buckeyes had a narrow 15-13 advantage when a media timeout was taken. When play resumed, Ohio State rushed out with an 11-4 run. Wisconsin came back and cut the lead to six, but the Buckeyes started heating up behind the arch and went into the locker room at halftime with a 47-32 lead.

That was the exact same score (47-32) in Madison when Jordan Taylor exploded and led his team back for an improbable victory. And to give Wisconsin some credit, they tried to come back. But every time the Badgers made a run, Ohio State had an answer. Often times, it was a big answer from behind the arch as the Buckeyes hit eight of their 14 three’s in the final 20 minutes. And after scorching Ohio State with 27 points in the first meeting, Jordan Taylor finished this contest with just eight points on 2-9 shooting.

The game was never competitive after halftime as Ohio State put the cherry on top of their fourth conference championship in six seasons.

It was a picture perfect ending for one of Ohio State’s most valuable players on "Senior Night". David Lighty has experienced the highs and lows of college basketball during his time at Ohio State, but in his last game played at Value City Arena, he couldn’t imagine a better ending.

“From the fireworks in the beginning to the streamers at the end, it was a great way to go out being outright [champions] in the Big Ten.”

And for the Wisconsin players, it’ll be a long trip home back to Madison. Fortunately, they have the master of control on their side, and will likely ‘Deal With It’ just fine.

Who’s Next:

The Buckeyes clinched the top seed in the Big Ten tournament and will face the winner of the Northwestern - Minnesota game on Friday, March 11. The game will be televised by ESPN and will tip-off at 12:00 PM EST.