It was not a good night from Wisconsin basketball last night. In their first road game, they traveled to a tough Providence squad and were beat right away from the tip. They only shot 34% from the field and only got to the line 12 times. They also committed 23 fouls. As a result, it ended up being a 72-59 loss to the Friars. Wisconsin basketball is now 1-2 on the season. Here are three takeaways from last night’s loss.
Wisconsin Basketball Veterans Did Not Show Up to Play

It was a very poor showing from the Wisconsin basketball veterans last night. AJ Storr had a decent night and led the team with 22 points , but had to take 17 shots to get there. Max Klesmit did not score, Chucky Hepburn was 2-10 from the field, Steven Crowl only made one shot, and Tyler Wahl was 3-9 from the field.
Bad shooting nights happen everywhere. What was more discouraging was that Wisconsin looked uninterested from the tip and was beaten right away. They didn’t show much fight and let Providence do whatever they wanted on both sides.
For a team with this much experience, it was disappointing to see a group of veterans, who have played a ton of road games, come out this flat. Freshman John Blackwell looked to be the only played outside AJ Storr that wanted to be out there at times. He outplayed all the veterans on the roster last night.
Greg Gard Called Out Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl

Believe me when I say Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl were not the only ones that played bad last night. Max Klesmit was left scoreless in only 19 minutes and Chucky Hepburn was only 2-10 from the field.
However, Greg Gard was vocal about Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl after the game. Wahl continues to struggle offensively as he did the second half the season last year. Crowl only made one shot and only took five shot attempts, despite being the tallest player on the court.
Greg Gard's comments on Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl: “Finish. Finish. They’ve been here nine years combined. Finish in the paint. They’ve got to finish. You get the ball that tight, you better get to the foul line and you better finish. (They) didn’t have trouble finishing."
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) November 15, 2023
I have no issues with these comments from Gard. Wahl mentioned after the Tennessee game he needs to do a better job at the rim. Crowl has been now called out multiple times from Gard over the last few years for not finishing at the rim. These two have a ton of experience at the college level. There is no reason two guys who do their damage in the paint, continue to be poor at finishing at the rim. These are players that needed to lead the way on the road and they did not do it.
The Wisconsin Basketball Defense Continues to be Awful

The Friars starters shot 23-36 from the field last night. That is 63.8%. It might just be me but I am struggling to find out why now this Wisconsin basketball team is struggling at all parts of defense. They are letting teams get to the rim and they are constantly having miscommunications between players. For a team as experienced as this unit is, that can’t happen even early in the season.
This side of the ball has to get better and fast. The schedule will only get harder the next few weeks with games against Virginia, Marquette, Michigan State, and Arizona. They will get ran off the court early like they did last night if that continues to happen.
I still think they will get it figured out by Big Ten play, but they need to start over on defense and get back to the basics.
Follow me on Twitter @DylanBuboltz and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here! Also, check out our merch store for some amazing WSH merchandise!