COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Bruce Thornton scored 27 points and Devin Royal added 25 for Ohio State as the Buckeyes knocked off No. 24 Wisconsin 86-69 Tuesday night.
Ohio State (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) beat a ranked team for the first time in seven tries this season.
Braeden Carrington made five 3-pointers in the second half and led the Badgers with 20 points while Nick Boyd and John Blackwell each had 14 points.
Wisconsin (18-8, 10-5) entered as one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten, having beaten then-No. 8 Illinois and then-No. 10 Michigan State last week, but the Badgers couldn’t overcome a first half in which they shot 40% from the floor.
Ohio State shot 51.7% in the first half, including going 6 for 13 from 3-point range, to build a 38-26 lead at the break. The Buckeyes were 11 for 21 from behind the arc for the game.
The Buckeyes extended the lead to 18 with 12:41 to go in the second half, and the Badgers never got closer than 12 the rest of the way. They stayed hot after intermission, making 16 of 28 from the floor (57.1%).
Thornton passed Jerry Lucas and William Buford to move into third place on Ohio State’s career scoring list. The senior guard surpassed 2,000 career points on a layup with 3:04 left.
Thornton has 2,005 points and trails Herb Williams (2,011) and Dennis Hopson (2,096) on the career list.
Wisconsin: Hosts Iowa on Sunday.
Ohio State: at Michigan State on Sunday.
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