The Badgers dropped their second straight game, losing their interstate rivalry matchup to Marquette
After suffering a 67-64 nail-biter at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines, the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers dropped their second-straight game, losing 88-74 to the No. 5 Marquette Golden Eagles in their annual interstate rivalry.
It was another rough second half for the Badgers, who led 39-37 at halftime before allowing 51 points over the final 20 minutes, dealing with a number of defensive woes.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 88-74 loss to the Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday.
Dribble penetration
When it comes to the main issue for the Badgers over their first nine games, even with the strong start, it has to be on the defensive side of the ball, specifically to do with dribble penetration.
While Wisconsin has good defensive guards, such as Max Klesmit, John Blackwell, and Kamari McGee, they’ve struggled to keep ball-handlers in front of them, causing their defense to collapse, with opposing offenses either feasting in the paint or getting open looks from three as a result.
That was the case on Saturday, as Wisconsin really struggled to keep Marquette’s guards in front of them in the second half, allowing the Golden Eagles to take over with 44 paint points overall.
As Marquette started to take over in the second half, it was paint bucket after paint bucket, with the team shooting 63.9 percent inside the arc on the day.
Wisconsin can’t give up 88 points and allow opponents to shoot 50 percent from the field on a consistent basis. Against Arizona, they faced similar issues, but their offense was spectacular. On Saturday, their offense wasn’t bad, but it was just average, as the team shot 46.2 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from deep, resulting in 74 points.
One star bounces back
Wisconsin has been waiting for Max Klesmit to get out of his slump after the guard had shot just 24 percent from the field (12/50) over the last five games.
Well, he did it and produced against the team he’s starred against in the past, scoring a team-high 22 points, while shooting 6/11 from deep. When Wisconsin was trying to attempt a comeback, it was Klesmit who hit two different threes, but the Badgers could never really get past a seven-point lead for Marquette.
When Klesmit is on, Wisconsin becomes much more dangerous offensively, as all three of their guards can create for themselves and score at all three levels.
Klesmit was shooting almost exclusively threes and came out with a quick punch, as he hit consecutive threes early in the game and carried that success throughout the 40 minutes.
While Klesmit came to play, another Badgers star couldn’t have a similar bounce back, as center Steven Crowl had just two points in a poor performance on Saturday.
Crowl struggled on both ends on the floor, as he shot just 1/4 from the field, while giving up a couple of threes to Ben Gold, who was more athletic and posed a matchup problem.
Crowl needs to get going soon because Wisconsin doesn’t have enough of an interior presence currently, instead relying heavily on their trio of guards to score at the moment.
Second half collapses
In each of their losses, Wisconsin has started well in the first half, getting out to leads against competitive teams, but fell short in the second half, specifically on the defensive side of the ball.
The Badgers allowed the Wolverines to shoot 61.5 percent from the field in the second half, which propelled their comeback in a low-scoring game.
On Saturday, they gave up 51 points to Marquette in the second half, struggling to contain both inside and outside the arc over the final 20 minutes in the loss.
Through their eight-game win streak, Wisconsin had a few comebacks and was able to close certain games strong, playing better as games went on. The team attributed that to its experience and veteran presence, which led the way to begin the season.
But, they’ve struggled in their last two second halves against tough opponents, instead fading as the games go along. Turnovers killed Wisconsin offensively on Saturday, as they had a season-high 17, which didn’t allow them to get into enough of a rhythm as they tried to mount a comeback.
With their personnel, Wisconsin should find a way to bounce back and play better in second halves going forward. But, they’ve faltered later in games, leading to back-to-back losses.