The No. 23 Wisconsin Badgers put up their lowest scoring performance of the season on Friday, losing 98-70 to the No. 9 BYU Cougars in a much-anticipated rematch from last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Coming into Friday’s matchup, Wisconsin knew the Cougars would give their defense a run for its money. But they may not have expected their offense to struggle the way it did.
Shots simply weren’t falling for the Badgers, and it created a snowball effect of problems. Wisconsin began forcing looks in hopes of sparking something, but nothing seemed to work. This led to BYU getting easy rebounds and dictating the pace, something Wisconsin usually prides itself on controlling.
Wisconsin shot just 38% from the field and 24%from beyond the arc, numbers that make it hard to win, especially against a team like BYU.
Without a breakout 4-for-5 3-point shooting night from backup point guard Braedon Carrington, Wisconsin’s statsheet would have looked even worse. Carrington was the only Badger to hit more than one 3-pointer all night.
But shooting wasn’t the only issue. Their chemistry was also not up to par. The Badgers were throwing sloppy passes and didn’t look as fluid as they have in other games. While this was their first matchup of the season against a strong opponent, it doesn’t excuse the 12 turnovers they committed. BYU took full advantage, scoring 18 points off those mistakes and capitalizing on Wisconsin’s disorganized offense.
“We got out of character. We did some undisciplined things. We can’t fray and get off the track if we have a possession or two or three that go wrong, and in the first half we did,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said after the game.
The Badgers had one last boost of energy at the start of the second half, cutting the deficit to single digits and giving a glimpse of hope for this one sided matchup.
But BYU’s Richie Saunders snapped Wisconsin’s burst with a lay-up and four 3-pointers, starting a 31-9 run that would put the game out of reach.
This was an eye-opening game for the Badgers, especially considering they cruised through their last four matchups. They will need to make significant improvements offensively before their Thanksgiving matchup against Providence.
