Wisconsin vs. Ohio State: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

Senior day didn't do much to spoil No. 6 Wisconsin's season-ending visit to No. 23 Ohio State, as the Badgers dominated the first half en route to a comprehensive 72-48 victory over the Buckeyes Sunday afternoon.

Value City Arena in Columbus was abuzz with Ohio State eyeing one last home win for its four seniors, but the Badgers wasted no time deflating the arena. They sprinted out to a 28-12 lead in the game's opening minutes, then led by as many as 25 late in the second half. 

The Buckeyes made a surge to cut the disadvantage to just seven early in the second half, but Wisconsin shut the door for good just as quickly with a 16-0 run. Within minutes, the Badgers transformed a winnable game for the Buckeyes to their largest deficit of the entire season. 

Benjamin Worgull of Scout.com added more on the final:

Seth Davis of CBS Sports observed that the game's result was never really in doubt:

Naismith Player of the Year candidate Frank Kaminsky led all scorers with 20 points, but Wisconsin didn't need to rely on him amid Sam Dekker's hot start (10 points, eight rebounds) and Bronson Koenig's scorching shooting (15 points). 

D'Angelo Russell led Ohio State with 17 points amid some magnificent play during stretches but couldn't buy a three-pointer (1-of-7), and his shooting struggles aided in the Buckeyes shooting just 34 percent from the field. 

As Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports notes, the Buckeyes could have their work cut out for them in the NCAA tournament after Sunday's showing:

"

Ohio State is ending its regular season with only one top-50 win. Don’t think it’s on the bubble, but seeding could be ugly.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 8, 2015"

Ohio State started out the game with two Sam Thompson free throws to take a 2-0 lead, but that wound up being the Buckeyes' only lead of the game. After the Badgers missed their opening two looks, they made 12 of their next 19 attempts from the field.

Although every individual player's performance seemed a byproduct of perfect offensive execution from Wisconsin, Dekker showed no bashfulness in attacking the rim early. The team's second-leading scorer was a man on a mission early but did much more than simply score, as Sports Illustrated's Brian Hamilton noted:

Wisconsin continued to pull away once most of the starters took a short rest, with Duje Dukan and Zak Showalter combining for an 8-0 run that put the Badgers up 28-12 at the eight-minute media timeout.

Ohio State couldn't cut its deficit to single digits in the opening frame, with Russell starting 2-of-8 with three first-half turnovers. Wisconsin Basketball noted that the defensive presence of Josh Gasser was giving Russell fits:

Meanwhile, Wisconsin kept finding success in its own offense, as Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde highlighted:

Seth Davis of CBS Sports noted just before halftime how well Wisconsin spread the ball around:

Ohio State's Amir Williams and Shannon Scott made a few key buckets late in the half to keep it from getting away, but the Buckeyes still faced a 14-point deficit at the break, with the Badgers leading 37-23. NCAA March Madness highlighted Ohio State's poor shooting that it would have to overcome to make a comeback:

Eleven Warriors' Tim Shoemaker suggested the Buckeyes could struggle to overcome such a massive deficit against the Badgers:

Although it was a nightmare of a first half for Ohio State, the Buckeye faithful had just enough hope to cling onto with only a few baskets needed to sway the momentum and the score.

And like clockwork, the dawn of the second half brought a furious charge from Ohio State.

Russell scored nine of the Buckeyes' first 12 points of the second half, which came in a five-minute spurt that saw Ohio State cut the lead to just 10. Wisconsin was held scoreless for most of that span, missing five straight looks after opening the second half with two made baskets. Additionally, Russell was beginning to take over, as ESPN's Dan Dakich observed:

It took Ohio State pulling within seven on Jae'Sean Tate's three-point play for the Badgers to snap out of their funk. But when they did, there was no looking back.

Koenig canned a long ball to make it a double-digit lead again, and three consecutive offensive rebounds by Wisconsin on the very next possession led to another trey. Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel summarized the game-changing sequence:

It wasn't that sequence that crushed the Buckeyes but rather what followed. Wisconsin rattled off 10 more unanswered points, extending it to a 16-0 run that began right when Ohio State cut the lead to single digits.

Before you could blink, the Badgers had absolutely demolished Ohio State's fleeting chances of victory, as Forde noted:

Spectacularly, Wisconsin gave Ohio State its biggest deficit of the season when it extended the lead to 25 points, per Patrick Murphy of Ozone Communications:

What was shaping up just minutes before to be a memorable ending to the Big Ten regular season wound up becoming something the conference has gotten to know very well—another Wisconsin blowout. Even as the Badgers took their stars out, they continued to give the Buckeyes fits en route to a lopsided victory.

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

After the game, Kaminsky applauded the effort of his team, but alluded to the task ahead when speaking with reporters: "This was kind of a statement game for us going into the Big Ten Tournament, beating a good team on their home floor. We're really excited about what's next."

If Sunday's meeting was a barometer for the Buckeyes' postseason readiness, then there's plenty to worry about in Columbus. Ohio State won't be facing a team of Wisconsin's caliber early on in the tournament, but this certainly isn't how head coach Thad Matta envisioned entering the Big Ten tournament.

With Sunday's loss, the Buckeyes miss out on the coveted double bye and will play in Thursday's late game as the No. 6 seed. An early exit in Chicago could doom Ohio State to one of those dreaded middle seeds in the NCAA tournament.

As for Wisconsin, it extended its season-ending win streak to three after the tough road loss to Maryland last week. That loss might make it an uphill battle for the Badgers to secure a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance, but more performances like Sunday's will have Bo Ryan's crew ripping through the field in Chicago this coming weekend.