Ohio State basketball loses on the road again by falling to Badgers

The Ohio State basketball team finally broke their losing streak by beating Maryland on Saturday in double-overtime. They were hoping to finally build off a win and get some momentum. They had a shot to finally win a road game against a reeling Wisconsin team.

Wisconsin had lost four straight games heading into Tuesday night, including to a terrible Michigan team. If Ohio State was ever going to get a road win, this was the one to get. Instead, they fell for the 16th consecutive time, losing to the Badgers 62-54.

It was a poor first half on the offensive side of the ball that killed the Buckeyes. They scored just 21 points after not scoring a field goal in the final seven minutes. They even forced Wisconsin into eight first-half turnovers. Yet, they found themselves down 13 at the half.

If you've watched this Ohio State basketball team at all this year, you know that deficit is too big to come back from. It's just another example of a team that can't manufacture easy offense through transition defense. Every other team in the Big Ten can.

Evan Mahaffey was the bright spot for the Buckeyes. He had eight points early in the game before having to sit with foul trouble. He finished the game 5-6 from the field for 10 points. He honestly should have taken more shots and gotten the ball in the paint more.

Free throws are another source of easy offense. Ohio State didn't capitalize on those either, shooting just two shots from the line. Wisconsin, meanwhile, had 16. You aren't going to win games on the road with that big of a free-throw deficit.

Ohio State will just drag themselves to the end of the season. They have nothing left to play for. They can't even save Chris Holtmann's job at this point.