The Wisconsin Badgers basketball season ended Sunday afternoon. They fell to the #1 seed Baylor 76-63. The Badgers end their season at 18-13. Senior D’Mitrik Trice led Wisconsin with 12 points. Nate Reuvers had 11 points, while Johnny Davis and Micah Potter each had 10 points. Below are the takeaways from the season ending loss.
Wisconsin Committed Too Many Turnovers
We knew the Badgers had to play close to a perfect game on both sides of the court to have a chance to beat Baylor. The Badgers shot pretty well from the field at 45.5%. Baylor also shot 45.5% from the field too. The stats are very similar except for one category. Turnovers.
Turnovers were a killer for Wisconisn. They committed 9 first half turnovers while the Bears only committed one. The Badgers ended with 14 turnovers. Baylor ended with only four. Points off turnovers really helped Baylor pull away from a game the Badgers were in most of the afternoon.
Wisconsin Couldn’t Get A Basket When They Needed It
After falling behind by as many as 18 in the second half, it would have been easy for Wisconsin to throw in the towels. Everything was going Baylor’s way and their two All-American guards (Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell) were taking over. The Bears also got 17 points from bench player Matthew Mayer. However, the Badgers did not cave.
Five straight empty possessions for Wisconsin – four one-and-done possessions and one ending with a turnover. No UW points in the last 4:04.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) March 21, 2021
Wisconsin responded by going on a 15-5 run of their own to get within 52-44 at the under 12 media timeout. Give the Badgers a ton of credit responding to an almost knock out punch from one of the best teams in the country. However, the Badgers couldn’t buy a basket down the stretch, committed turnovers, and never got much closer than 8 the rest of the way.
The Senior Class Deserves A Ton Of Credit
This was not the year we thought Wisconsin Basketball. It seemed like this team was almost a lock to see the second weekend of the tournament at the beginning of the year. They would be the first to say it wasn’t the year they expected. They had stretches where they did not play well and ran into a gauntlet of a Big Ten Conference. The senior class also ended their careers with 1 NCAA tournament win. D’Mitrik Trice is the exception and had 3 wins.
We also forget everything this class had to endure over the last 2-3 years. After making the NCAA Tournament in 2019, the team had to endure the accident of Assistant Coach Howard Moore and his family. No one could imagine going through that. Then in 2020, the Badgers earned the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and was poised to see the second weekend last year. However, the COVID 19 pandemic paused the remainder of the season. This season, the team had to go though COVID protocols, a time that is truly difficult for all of us.
It’s easy to point the finger and say this class should have been better. It’s also easy to forget that these players are human and it’s taken a toll on all of us.
This Will Be A Very Young Team Next Season
The status of Brad Davison, D’Mitrik Trice, Aleem Ford, Micah Potter, Nate Reuvers, and Trevor Anderson are still uncertain. They can all return next season if they want to due to NCAA rules this being a free year of eligibility. Greg Gard also doesn’t know the status of the seniors as well.
Gard said he isn't sure which seniors will decide to return. Will give them time to take in the season/loss. #Badgers
— Raul Vazquez (@Raul_vazquez11) March 21, 2021
If this group does not return, it’s Johnny Davis, Tyler Wahl, an a bunch of young and unproven players. It will be interesting to see if the Badgers go to the transfer portal or if they rely on an extremely young roster next season. There is plenty of time to dissect that, however.
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