When the Big Ten announced their postseason awards on Monday afternoon following the conclusion of their 2018-19 regular season you might have noticed an omission for the Wisconsin Badgers.

To nobody’s surprise, Ethan Happ was named a first-team All-Big Ten player for the third year in a row. But the Badgers, who allowed just 61.2 points per game this season and ranked No. 4 in the country in defensive efficiency—ahead of every other Big Ten team but No. 2 Michigan—did not have a player named to the conference’s All-Defensive team. Maryland forward Bruno Fernando, Michigan point guard Zavier Simpson, Michigan State guard Matt McQuiad, Penn State guard Josh Reaves, and Purdue guard Nojel Eastern all made the cut - with Reaves named as the conference’s defensive player of the year.

But if he was surprised one of his guys didn’t catch many eyes this year, UW head coach Greg Gard didn’t show it in his weekly press conference on Tuesday. Asked about the makeup of the Big Ten’s defensive honorees, Gard said that not seeing one of his starters on the list suggests to him that Wisconsin’s defense was better than the sum of its individual parts.

“I think that’s a great testament to the quote that … the sum of the whole is greater than the parts,” Gard said on Tuesday. “I think if you look at our guys individually, maybe no individual numbers that you would look at or get caught up in defensively jumped out, whether it’s blocks or steals. Those are the primary ones. But this group collectively has bought in and grown.”

It’s hard not to see the strides the Badgers made in their quest to make a return to the NCAA tournament after last year’s down season, where they allowed 66.0 points per game (31st in the country) and ranked No. 66 in KenPom.com’s defensive rankings–a big step down from their No. 9 ranking during the 2016-17 season. This year the Badgers are allowing teams to shoot just 39.2 percent from the floor (10th in the country), and Gard said that the team’s internal stats say that this year’s defense one of the best they have had over their last 10 seasons.

That comes despite no UW player leading the Big Ten in important defensive statistics like steals and blocks - although sophomore forwards Nate Reuvers is fourth in the conference in blocks this year with 58 in 31 games for UW. Ethan Happ has the most steals this year for the Badgers with 35 in 31 games, but that only puts him in a tie for 14th in the Big Ten with Nebraska’s Glynn Watson, Jr.

So how did the Badgers manage to put together one of their best defensive seasons in their recent history? Gard said part of it comes down to his players buying in to their system - and making it a priority to play consistently on the defensive end every time they take the court.

“This group bought in early,” Gard said on Tuesday. “They understood how important that was going to be and that it was going to be a team effort. I think collectively as a group they bonded together and understood how good they can be together.”

“Your best defenses are like that. You can have one guy here or there that’s a shot blocker but be leaky in other areas. This group has done a terrific job. It’s important that we did, because that’s made us as good as we can be from that standpoint.”

Gard said that the two teams that compared to the defensive efficiency his team has shown this year were the 2007-08 and 2012-13 seasons, and the Badgers will be hoping to replicate the success those teams had in their respective conference tournaments when they come off of the double-bye they earned on Friday to play either Maryland, Nebraska or Rutgers.

The 2007-08 squad took home both a regular season and Big Ten tournament championship - and the 2012-13 team lost to Ohio State in a low-scoring championship game. Only time will tell if this year’s team will also be able to turn a strong defense into another memorable March.

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.