It was another frustrating night for Wisconsin basketball. The Badgers dropped their fifth road game in a row and six of their last eight games overall. After falling behind as much as 15 early and a fire alarm that caused a delay, Wisconsin fell to the Indiana Hoosiers 74-70. Chucky Hepburn was one of five Badgers to score in double figures with 15 points. Things continue to go south for this Wisconsin basketball team. Here are three takeaways from the loss.
Wisconsin Basketball Started Slow Again
This has been a major problem for Wisconsin the month of February. Too many times, this team is getting punched in the mouth early and falling behind. It happened against Michigan, Rutgers, and now last night. In the blink of an eye, Wisconsin basketball fell behind by 15 against a struggling Indiana team who is not going to the NCAA Tournament unless they win the Big Ten Tournament.
Credit the Badgers for getting back into the game thanks to a 9-2 run late in the first half and in the second half, but they took 22 more shots than the Hoosiers and only made one more shot. They only got to the free throw line once. After having a week off, I was afraid of a slow start and that’s exactly what happened.
The Badgers also allowed Kel’el Ware to score 20 points on 9-10 shooting in the first half. Ware didn’t have too hard to get them either. The defense continues to play soft and allow for easy penetration to the rim.
Wisconsin Basketball Took Care of the Ball Much Better
Turnovers have also been a big problem this month. That was not the case last night. Wisconsin basketball only committed three turnovers and Indiana got zero points off turnovers. That was probably the one bright spot.
A big reason why the turnovers were down was the play of Chucky Hepburn, He has been excellent lately. He is not turning the ball over and is becoming a really solid floor general. Credit the post players for being strong with the ball too and not playing too fast.
Greg Gard Has to Change Something
It’s pretty simple: what Wisconsin basketball head coach Greg Gard is doing is not working. The defense continues to be a mess, the late game execution is poor at best, and there’s still too many early shots taken or passing up good shots.
Gard has made it clear he is sticking with six players getting meaningful minutes. That is the starting five and freshman John Blackwell. I think that needs to change. I think the starters are playing too many minutes.
It’s too late now to make any drastic chnages at this point in the season, but I would like to see John Blackwell play at least 25 minutes a game or potentially start. Right now, I believe he is one of the five best players on this roster.
This is a talented Wisconsin basketball team. There’s a reason why they were ranked sixth in the country a month ago. This is a team what will be anywhere from a five to a seven seed in the NCAA Tournament with Elite talent. All summer we heard about the depth and talent of this roster. Right now, some of them are sitting when I don’t think they should be.
This is becoming a concerning issue for Greg Gard. I defend him as much as anyone else does, but he has to be willing to change something, It’s on the players and it’s on him. The season is starting to go south fast.
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