The Ohio State Buckeyes got exactly what they needed on Tuesday night at home against No. 25 Wisconsin.
The Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team had its back against the wall, needing a big victory, and they got it on Tuesday night.
From start to finish, Ohio State dictated the pace and had clutch shooting all night long en route to its 86-69 victory.
Up until Tuesday night, the Buckeyes were limping through the end of their season. They had a bad loss to the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday night, coupled with the loss of guard John Mobley Jr., staring down a tough stretch of games to end the year, but it didn't matter.
The Buckeyes were paced by forward Devi Royal, who impressed all night long. He finished with 25 points on 10-17 from the field and 4-7 from the field. Royal wasn't the Buckeyes leading scorer; that went to guard Bruce Thornton, who finished with 27 points, 24 of which came in the second half.
He was unconscious in the second half as the Buckeyes held off a couple of Wisconsin mini-runs.
So, where does this leave the Buckeyes?
While this was a nice win, there is still a ton of work to do. While Wisconsin came in ranked No. 25 in the country, this still is not a Quad 1 victory, a category in which Ohio State is 0-8 on the year.
Even with the win, the Buckeyes are still on the outside looking in the NCAA Tournament, but that heartbeat got a little bit stronger.
They now stare down five remaining regular-season games in which I believe they need to go 4-1 at worst. That would give them at least three Quad 1 victories and would give them at least one more ranked victory.
It is a pick-your-poison to end the season for Ohio State. They travel to East Lansing to take on No. 15 Michigan State on Sunday, which is the hardest game left on the schedule. The Spartans are always tough to play, but they are especially tough at home.
From there, the Buckeyes travel to Iowa, host No. 7 Purdue, travel to Penn State, and then finish with a home tilt against Indiana.
There are wins still left on the schedule, and if they shoot as they did on Tuesday, they very well could find themselves in a bracket line come selection Sunday.
A nice win for Ohio State, but still work to be done as the Buckeyes push towards the finish line.
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