Badger men's hoops pounded by Buckeyes in regular season finale

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin men's basketball team finished third in the Big Ten after getting pounded at Ohio State in its regular season finale yesterday, 93-65.

The top-ranked Buckeyes won the conference out-right, and both they and the Badgers earned first-round byes in this week’s Big Ten Tournament. Wisconsin will play either sixth-seeded Penn State or No.11 Indiana on Friday night in Indianapolis.

The Badgers had no answer for Ohio State’s shooting barrage yesterday. The Buckeyes out-shot 10th-ranked Wisconsin 68-to-42-percent. And Ohio State made all but one of its 15 three-point attempts. They led by 15 at the half and rolled from there. Senior Jon Diebler made seven-of-eight from beyond the arc, and he led Ohio State with 27 points. That was after he tied a Big Ten record with 10 treys in his previous game against Penn State.

Jared Sullinger, who promised revenge after claiming that a Badger fan spit in his face in Madison last month, had 22 points and eight boards. Buckeye fans were given towels saying "Deal With It." That's what Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan told Ohio State last month, after claiming that a video showed nobody spitting when the Badger fans stormed the court following their upset win over the then-unbeaten Buckeyes.

OSU went 16-2 in the Big Ten in the regular season. They're 29-2 with the top seed in this week's Big Ten tourney. The Badgers went 13-5 in the conference, and are 23-7 overall, good for third place when many preseason prognosticators had them finishing sixth or seventh.

The brackets are set for the Big Ten men's basketball tournament which starts Thursday in Indianapolis:

#8 Northwestern vs. #9 Minnesota - winner plays #1Ohio State

#5 Michigan vs. #4Illinois

#7 Michigan State vs. #10 Iowa - winner plays #2Purdue

#6 Penn State vs. #11 Indiana - winner plays #3Wisconsin

Tags: wisconsin sports, proam, basketball, badgers