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Jared Sullinger wore out Wisconsin. Then William Buford put the Badgers away. No. 3 Ohio State wasn’t going to give No. 19 Wisconsin a shot at another comeback. Sullinger scored 24 points and Buford hit a critical 3-pointer down the stretch, helping the Buckeyes beat the Badgers 58-52 on Saturday. Sullinger was shocked when he wasn’t double-teamed on defense to start the game, and he pounced…

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If there was a time to do it in Madison, it would be this year, as the 20th-ranked Badgers seem to have lost their Kohl Center mojo. 

The Buckeyes leveraged solid play from blue-chip big man Jared Sullinger, who finished with 24 points and three steals while pulling down 10 huge boards for his squad. Flat-top forward Ryan Evans finished with a Badger-high 14 points, but no combination of players could truly neutralize Ohio State’s front line.

Wisconsin suffered its fourth loss at the Kohl Center, a citadel for the Badgers in recent years. They looked to extend their win streak against the Thad Matta-led Buckeyes to 10 straight, but instead saw their season record drop to 18-6, 7-4 in the Big Ten.

Five of the Badgers’ last six games have been decided by three buckets or less, and the Buckeyes have been unable to overcome Wisconsin teams, often overmatched on paper, in Madison. First place was up for grabs, with the Badgers ranked second behind Big Ten leader Ohio State, but the Buckeyes maintained their dominance over the conference with the hard-scrabbled win.  

The Badgers followed their traditional slow-and-low tendencies, but the Buckeyes seemed better prepared to deal with the their one-dimensional attack. Wisconsin was haggard from behind the arc, shooting 5-for-25 in a cold first-half effort.

The battle of the Jareds didn’t live up to the hype, but was solid nonetheless. The Buckeyes’ Jared had the better day, but Badger Jared Berggren finished with a respectable 10 points and three rebounds.  The Badgers showed their normal penchant for stifling defense, limiting the Buckeyes to 21 points below their 77.3 season average.

Either way, the Buckeyes were happy to exit Madison with their first win since 2000.

Buckeye point guard Aaron Craft kept Jordan Taylor in check most of the game with Taylor only delivering 12 points. He was unable to pull off his late-game heroics of last year that saw him bring the then-No. 1 Buckeyes to their knees. Taylor protected the ball against the pickpocketing savant in Craft, but couldn’t convert his selfish ways into many points for his team.

Taylor tried to rekindle the fire he displayed in besting the Buckeyes last season when he hit a running bank shot to start a rally that pulled Wisconsin within four with 6:09 left in the game. A bonus free-throw point precipitated a blocking foul by Sullinger, his third foul of the game, but the Badgers couldn’t take advantage of his precarious situation and get him off the floor.

Mike Bruesewitz had a big block on Sullinger with four minutes and followed it up with a three-pointer to bring the Badgers within one. That’s the closest they would get, though, as the Buckeyes held off the Badger surge. 

Sullinger had 16 points and five boards in the first half, and Bo Ryan couldn’t find a proportionate response for his dominance after the break. Ohio State’s big man had a measure of revenge, accusing Badger fans of spitting on him after his team’s loss last year in Wisconsin. 

The loss is Wisconsin’s first in seven games, which still keeps them in the top third of the conference.

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Amidst this, they aren’t making any friends.

In the young season, there have already been numerous instances in which opposing players have been upset by the persona of the Indiana squad.

Minnesota Timberwolves star big man Kevin Love recently expressed his feelings about the rugged Pacers after their 109-99 loss to Indiana.  

“I’ve said all along I’ve never liked the Pacers,” Love said. “I guarantee the next time we play them it will be just as physical.”

Love also added, “They take those pills and they’ve got all that toughness. I don’t know where that comes from. They all think they’re tough guys. I just don’t know where that comes from. That just blows my mind. They’re all tough. And it makes me laugh.”

Love isn’t the only once annoyed.

NBA MVP Derrick Rose expressed his annoyance with the Pacers’ postgame celebration a couple weeks ago, after Indiana won on the road at Chicago 95-90.

Rose had motivational words to say concerning this: “I’ll never forget how they celebrated just from winning this game,” he said. “I can’t wait to play them again.”

The drama surrounding this game didn’t end there. Pacers coach Frank Vogel took it up another level.

Vogel said, “I don’t know if we really celebrated any more than a lot of teams celebrated when they get a road win. I know they’ve got a couple guys on their team who celebrate on every play. I just think it’s the thrill of victory.”

It’s clear the Pacers are playing with a chip on the shoulder. They’re out to prove they’re an elite team. Right now, their play is communicating this.

But their unnecessary antics appear to be getting under the skin of opposing teams. Are they becoming the new Bad Boys?

The Detroit Pistons were the feared “Bad Boys” of the late 1980s. Their demeanor was hard-nosed and at times, dirty. But they backed up this style of play by winning two NBA championships.

The Pacers must be careful to not create a bad reputation before they’ve ever even won a playoff series together. Yes, they’re showing vast improvements this year, but making players like Love and the MVP angry is not wise.

It’s premature to label them the new Bad Boys, but their persona is rubbing off on teams like they are. At this stage in their success, they should stick to communicating to the league by winning, rather than foolishly getting underneath players’ skin and running their mouths. 

There’s something to be said for letting your playing do the talking.

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These two Big Ten rivals faced each other a few weeks ago, with the Wolverines beating the Spartans 60-59 on an exciting defensive stand.

Trey Burke, who has been phenomenal for the Wolverines all season, had one of his best games against Michigan State. He dropped 20 points (8-11 from the field, 3-6 from downtown), grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists. He also registered two steals and blocked two shots. 

The Wolverines have won the past three matchups and will look to register their second straight season sweep of the Spartans.

Michigan is one game away from completing their most difficult stretch of the year. Four of their last five games have been on the road, and after Sunday, the Wolverines will have played three straight games against top 20 teams.

In their past four games, they lost a heartbreaker to a tough Arkansas team in Fayetteville, beat Purdue in Mackey Arena, lost to No. 3 OSU in Columbus and beat No. 20 Indiana in Ann Arbor.

After winning 15 games in a row, the Spartans have dropped three of their past five games. Last Tuesday, Draymond Green went down with a knee sprain in a loss against Illinois. The injury did not look promising, and after the game Green expressed that he could not put any pressure on his left leg.

The team insists Green will be ready to go come Sunday, but it is unclear how effective he will be.

The resurgence of the Wolverines has reinvigorated this rivalry, which had been dominated by the Spartans for the past decade. A win at the Breslin Center would be a huge confidence boost for the Wolverines, and it would put them in a great position in the Big Ten.

The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS at 1 pm.

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Both the East and the West look strong, but a case could be made for at least another eight players who deserve to start, none more so than forward Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Love may not make the highlight reel every night, but this season he’s averaged 25 points and 13.5 rebounds per game, to lead all forwards in both categories. If the All-Star players were selected on points scored alone, Love deserves to start purely on merit. Starting the 2011-2012 season with 15 straight double-doubles and dominating defenses should have also earned Love a place on the starters roster.

Kevin Love is not the only player who has a legitimate claim to be a starter. Here are seven others who can also consider themselves unlucky to not be starting the NBA All-Star Game.

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