With 15:31 to play on Wednesday, Ohio State had an ideal situation on its hands.
The Buckeyes led Wisconsin by 27 points and didn’t appear to be slowing down. Thoroughly drubbing a team it lost to on its own home floor a little more than a month ago, Ohio State looked as good as – or better than – it had all season. And given that the Buckeyes’ second-round matchup would be set to tip off just 19 hours after the start of the Wednesday game, perhaps Ohio State could even preserve some much-needed energy as it cruised to victory against the Badgers.