Wisconsin Hangs on for Another Big Win

Ohio State became just another ranked team from the Big Ten to find out how tough it is to win at Wisconsin. <br/><br/>In a matchup of top five teams considered the conference favorites, Wisconsin beat

Wednesday, January 10th 2007, 6:31 am

By: News On 6

Ohio State became just another ranked team from the Big Ten to find out how tough it is to win at Wisconsin.

In a matchup of top five teams considered the conference favorites, Wisconsin beat the Buckeyes 72-69 on Tuesday night. It had the makings of a blowout, but after losing almost all of a comfortable lead because of poor free throw shooting, the Badgers found a way to hang on.

``I'm glad we can check this one off of places we have to go,'' Ohio State coach Thad Matta said.

Plenty of others have said that same thing.

The Badgers improved to 13-2 against ranked teams in coach Bo Ryan's five-plus seasons and they are 40-2 in conference home games over that span.

The No. 3 ranking is the highest in school history for the Badgers (16-1, 2-0), who led by as many as 16 points in the second half.

``We know we have a chance to be a great team,'' said senior forward Alando Tucker, who had 17 points.

So do the fifth-ranked and very young Buckeyes (13-3, 2-1), whose three losses have been on the road to the teams that currently occupy the top three spots in the Top 25.

``I don't know how many bumps they're going to get, but I don't think it's going to be very many,'' Ryan said of Ohio State, which lost to North Carolina in November and Florida last month.

In other games involving ranked teams on Tuesday, it was: No. 2 Florida 79, Arkansas 72; No. 8 Texas A&M 61, Baylor 51; No. 14 Alabama 71, No. 13 LSU 61; No. 17 Clemson 87, North Carolina State 76; No. 18 Air Force 65, New Mexico 57; and No. 22 Notre Dame 61, No. 21 West Virginia 58.

Kammron Taylor scored 25 points for Wisconsin, but he made only five of eight free throws over the final 1:04 to leave the door open for Ohio State.

Seven-foot freshman center Greg Oden had 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots. Two of his field goals were dunks in the final 37 seconds, the second of which brought the Buckeyes within 71-69 with 8.9 seconds to go.

Taylor again went 1-for-2 from the line _ the Badgers finished 17-for-29 _ and Ohio State's Jamar Butler missed a potential game tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

``I like the fact that our guys fought back and put us in the position to have a chance to win the game,'' Matta said. ``But we've got to find ways and be more consistent with our play and understand the value of every possession, and I think we can do that.''

Ivan Harris had 17 points for Ohio State, which gets another chance at the Badgers, at home on Feb. 25.

No. 2 Florida 79, Arkansas 72

Taurean Green scored 17 points to lead the Gators (15-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) in front of a sellout crowd at the O'Connell Center, who at halftime welcomed home the football team a day after it beat Ohio State in the BCS championship game. That made Florida the first school to ever hold the national titles in both football and basketball at the same time.

Darian Townes led the Razorbacks (12-4, 1-1) with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 8 Texas A&M 61, Baylor 51

Acie Law IV had 20 points and Joseph Jones had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead visiting Aggies (14-2, 2-0 Big 12) to their seventh straight win. Texas A&M is off to its best start since opening 16-2 in 1959-60. The Aggies have won nine straight Big 12 games, their longest conference winning streak since they won 11 Southwest Conference games in a row over two seasons from 1979-80.

Kevin Rogers had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Bears (10-5, 0-2), who have lost 25 straight games against ranked teams since a win at Oklahoma State on Feb. 15, 2003.

No. 14 Alabama 71, No. 13 LSU 61

Richard Hendrix scored 18 points for the Crimson Tide (14-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), which rebounded from a 27-point loss at Arkansas on Saturday by holding LSU to 35 percent shooting.

Glen Davis, playing with sore ribs and right knee from a two-car accident on Saturday night, had 24 points and 17 rebounds for the visiting Tigers (11-4, 0-1), who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

No. 17 Clemson 87, North Carolina St. 76 Vernon Hamilton scored 21 points for the Tigers (17-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who matched the best start in school history and remain the only unbeaten team in Division I. Clemson, which shot nearly 56 percent, equaled the school records for best start and longest winning streak, and ended a four-game losing streak in Raleigh.

Gavin Grant had 22 points for the Wolfpack (10-6, 0-3), which opened conference play with three losses for the first time since 1999-2000.

No. 18 Air Force 65, New Mexico 57

Dan Nwaelele scored 22 points and Mat McCraw added a career-high 21 for the Falcons (16-1, 3-0 Mountain West), who won their 12th straight by overcoming a 15-point halftime deficit. Air Force opened the second half with a 21-2 run that gave it a 45-41 lead.

Darren Prentice had 18 points for the visiting Lobos (11-7, 0-3).

No. 22 Notre Dame 61, No. 21 West Virginia 58

Russell Carter scored 19 points for the Fighting Irish (14-2, 2-1 Big East), who shot 53.5 percent from the field and improved to 3-0 against ranked teams this season.

Alex Ruoff had 14 points for the visiting Mountaineers (13-2, 3-1), who had an eight-game winning streak snapped, shot 37.7 percent, their second-worst outing this season. Still, West Virginia had a chance to tie but Frank Young was unable to get off a shot at the buzzer.