The Badgers suffered a disappointing loss at home on Saturday in crumbling fashion.
The Wisconsin Badgers suffered a disappointing 77-73 loss at the hands of the Oregon Ducks on Saturday, crumbling late in the second half and snapping a five-game winning streak.
For the first half, following a 24-4 run, it seemed like the Badgers were in control, but the lead slowly slipped away in the second half, leading to an ugly last few minutes where Wisconsin was tentative and had one too many turnovers offensively.
Let’s break down what went wrong in Wisconsin’s 77-73 loss to the Oregon Ducks, looking into each half.
First Half
Wisconsin started the game by attacking inside and forcing the game to run through the paint. Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter combined for the first eight Wisconsin points.
Oregon, however, stayed in the game with two threes in the first four minutes, and kept up with a slower-than-normal Wisconsin offense through the first 10 minutes of the half. Jackson Shelstad, Jadrian Tracey, and Nate Bittle combined for 15 of the first 17 Oregon points, as Oregon kept a 17-14 lead over Wisconsin with 11 minutes to go in the first.
Wisconsin, going on one of their many amazing runs throughout the season, went on to finish the half on a 24-9 run with 14 unanswered points. It all started with a dunk from Carter Gilmore followed by a barrage of plays from John Tonje. Tonje began with a contested three which really switched the momentum back to Wisconsin, and brought the somewhat quiet crowd roaring back to life.
He followed that up with eight straight points, the best of which was a breakaway dunk from a tipped pass. Tonje ended the half with 16 points and two threes, which were the only threes Wisconsin made that half. Crowl was second in scoring with 10 points, six of which came within the first 5 minutes of the half.
Offensively, the Badgers took care of business in the paint, as they scored a total of 20 points in the paint, with those buckets being all part of their first 25 points. While the threes did not really fall for Wisconsin, it was made up by their work inside and the great ball movement that led to great mismatches and open players down low.
Wisconsin did well to limit turnovers, but they had stretches in the first where they couldn’t seem to find a bucket and the offense somewhat stalled early on. This was not a real problem for the Badgers early this season, as they could always go to one of their scorers to get a bucket.
In the end, however, shooting 50 percent overall from the field, the Badgers had a decent first half on the offensive side of the court, despite the lack of threes.
Defensively, the Badgers really honed in on trying to limit Jackson Shelstad and Nate Bittle. While rotations were sometimes slow or late, the ability to limit Oregon to only one shot possession and force them into low-percentage field goals made a major difference.
Wisconsin outrebounded the Ducks 14 to 21 in the first and gave Oregon only three offensive rebounds. While Oregon did make four threes in the first, the big difference was them going 11-32 from the field and having zero free throws.
The Badgers played good clean basketball not allowing any unnecessary fouls and easy shots at the line. Going into the half, Jackson Shelstad led the team in scoring with eight points and two threes. His ability to get off the first defender and hit the lane with great speed really put the Wisconsin defenders in a bind early.
2nd Half
After a great end to the first half, the Badgers came out of the gates firing. Klesmit quickly put up his first 5 points of the game, starting with a clean corner three off a double screenplay.
Oregon’s Nate Bittle continued to attack Crowl inside and get to his spot to get easy points, but it was not enough to hold off Wisconsin as they continued to attack the paint offensively.
Kamari McGee scored a huge corner three, giving Wisconsin a 16-point lead at 55-32 with 12 minutes left to play, but Oregon began to answer back.
Jadarian Tracey and Keeshawn Barthelemy began their scoring streak with a combined three threes and a pull-up mid-range as well, cutting the Wisconsin lead down to 12 with seven minutes to go in the game. The great defensive rebounding that helped limit Oregon’s chances in the first disappeared as Oregon scored on second-chance points multiple times down the stretch of the last six minutes.
The Ducks went on a 9-0 run on the back of Bittle to finish the second half without allowing a single Wisconsin basket in the last three minutes of the game while also forcing five turnovers in that period. Down the stretch, the Badgers offense completely staggered, without a clear scorer able to really take the reins and go get a bucket.
John Tonje, after scoring 16 points in the first was limited to only four in the second half, and two down the stretch of the last four minutes. Oregon guard TJ Bamba was really the cause of that, playing great on-ball defense and not giving Tonje any space to get a shot off.
The biggest play however was a bad turnover on the inbound by John Blackwell with only 17 seconds left in the game, giving way for a game-tying three from Jackson Shelstad and forcing the game to overtime.
In overtime, the Badgers continued to struggle offensively, relying too much on Tonje’s 1-on-1 ability rather than running plays to get more motion. There was some light however, when Nolan Winter knocked a huge three as the shot clock winded down to put the Badgers up 72-71, but a bad foul led to two free throw shots, giving the Ducks the lead and really letting them run away with the game.
Nate Bittle was huge for Oregon in overtime, scoring six points and really putting the Badgers out of the game. Oregon finished the game 77-73, sucking the life out of the Kohl Center and really ending their ability to determine their own destiny in the Big Ten standings.
The key issue for the Badgers was their offense down the stretch of the game. Throughout the game, there were far too many moments where the Badgers were not able to get good shots and run a true gameplan, and it really hurt when the Ducks started their full-court press.
The press slowed the game down in the backcourt and forced the Badgers into tough situations in the frontcourt. The Oregon defense was truly outstanding in the last seven minutes, playing great on-ball defense and forcing the Badgers into tough, low-percentage shots.
With only six turnovers in the first half, the Badgers did well to protect the ball and keep possessions alive, but that all went downhill in the second half with a team total of 17 turnovers and Crowl with four himself in the final period. Protecting the ball is the number one priority when you have the lead and the inability to do so led to lost possessions, allowing Oregon to slowly climb back into the game.
Defensively, the Badgers were exploited, their inability to switch and rotate was clear in this game. Keeshawn Barthelemy was able to work off of great screens and get that extra step to knock down his shots, scoring 10 points in the second.
Nate Bittle, who had a quiet first half with five points, was also able to get to the free throw line and score inside, totaling 18 in the second half and overtime. When the offense sputters, the Badgers normally look to their defense to pick up the pace and get them transition buckets, but Oregon understood that well and kept the game tuned to their tempo, allowing them to really have their way.
The Badgers defense was not great, but it was not all bad. They still ended the game with 40 rebounds, 3 more than the Ducks, and picked up three steals, but it was simply not enough due to the lack of scoring offensively.
Final Thoughts
This Badgers team is still very good and has shown it throughout the season. When they play team basketball and are in sync, they are one of the most prolific offenses in the game.
But, when their game becomes too one dimensional and dependent on single scorers, we have seen how the offense can not get the wheels off the ground.
As the Badgers get ready for the big matchup against Michigan State, the holes on their film have become very visible and it is up to the team to rally down the final stretch of conference play to get themselves into a good position for the tournament.