Northwestern Vs. Ohio State: Wildcats Get Crushed 81-54 By No. 2 Buckeyes

The Northwestern Wildcats were expected to have a tough time keeping up with the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes on Wednesday evening, and that proved to be true in a brutal 81-54 defeat in Columbus. The Wildcats kept things at least somewhat competitive for most of the first half, but the Buckeyes ran away with things late in the game.

After Northwestern cut Ohio State's lead down to 13 points a few minutes into the second half, the Buckeyes went on a big run to run away with things again. Ohio State had a 23-4 run in the first half to gain their initial lead, and a 19-6 run in the midst of the second half prevented the Wildcats from really making things competitive.

Ohio State simply outplayed Northwestern on Wednesday, limiting the Wildcats to making just 32 percent of their shots. Northwestern's big scorers, John Shurna and Drew Crawford, scored just 24 combined points on 9-for-30 shooting. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, got strong games from their star players. William Buford came up with 28 points and 9 rebounds and Jared Sullinger finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead the way for Ohio State.

The loss drops Northwestern to 10-3 on the year as they've now lost consecutive games to ranked opponents. Before Wednesday's loss, the Wildcats were defeated by then-No. 21 Creighton on Dec. 22. Ohio State, on the other hand, moves to 13-1 on the year. The Buckeyes have won five straight games since losing to Kansas on Dec. 10.

For more on Northwestern, visit Sippin' On Purple, SB Nation's Northwestern Wildcats blog. For more Ohio State, head over to Along the Olentangy, SB Nation's Ohio State Buckeyes blog. For all your college basketball needs, visit SB Nation's college basketball news hub.

The Northwestern Wildcats are looking for a huge upset on Wednesday, but they're trailing the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes on the road 41-26 going into halftime. The game was tight early but the Buckeyes managed to run away with things in the middle of the half and the Wildcats have just been trying to hold on since then.

Roughly eight minutes into the game, the score was actually tied 13-13, but that's precisely when Ohio State turned things on. Over the next eight minutes, the Buckeyes would go on a 23-4 run to put them up 36-17 and basically turn this game into what most people expected it to be. Northwestern shot just 33 percent from the field in the first half and really couldn't get anything going on offense.

Usually, the Wildcats are carried by stars John Shurna and Drew Crawford, but the Buckeyes have done a great job of stifling them tonight. Combined, Northwestern's key duo has scored just 10 points on the night, making just 4 of 18 shots from the field. Ohio State has essentially had all of its points scored by four players, as Jared Sullinger, William Buford, Deshaun Thomas and Jordan Sibert have scored 40 of the team's 41 points.

For more on Northwestern, visit Sippin' On Purple, SB Nation's Northwestern Wildcatsblog. For more Ohio State, head over to Along the Olentangy, SB Nation's Ohio State Buckeyes blog. For all your college basketball needs, visit SB Nation's college basketball news hub.