MADISON, Wis. - Convert was the word that continually rolled out of Wisconsin coach Greg Gard’s mouth to describe the No. 22 Badgers’ miscues in their 59-52 Big Ten Conference loss to Minnesota on Thursday night at the Kohl Center.
It might sound simple, but it wasn’t against the Gophers: Convert 3-point baskets, convert free throws and convert field goals.
“We got to the free-throw line, but we’ve got to be able to convert when we’re there and capitalize on those opportunities,” Gard said about the Badgers (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten), who have lost two straight games.
“The silver lining is that the defense did keep us right where we needed to be – gave us a chance – but you’ve got to score some points.”
The Badgers shot 7-for-17 from the foul line and were 5 for 22 from 3-point range on Thursday.
Wisconsin overcame a dreadful first-half performance and crawled back into contention against the Gophers, who snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Badgers. The victory was the first for Minnesota at the Kohl Center since 2009.
Sophomore forward Nate Reuvers was a catalyst, scoring nine of his 12 points in the second half.
Senior forward Ethan Happ got a steal and scored a layup on a fast break to pull Wisconsin within four points at 49-45 with 3 minutes, 28 seconds to go in regulation.
The Gophers got a turnover on the next possession, and redshirt sophomore guard D’Mitrik Trice helped the Badgers pull to two with a floater in the lane to make it 49-47 with 2:05 to go.
But Wisconsin played sloppy in the closing minutes with turnovers, missed baskets and Happ’s free-throw failures with less than 40 seconds left to seal the Badgers’ fate.
Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said the Gophers’ strategy down the stretch was to attack Happ under and around the basket and make the standout earn his points from the foul line. That plan worked for Minnesota.
Happ finished 1-for-7 from the charity stripe, including four missed shots with less than 3 minutes to go.
“Yeah, it’s that simple,” Happ said of Pitino’s plan.With the grind of the Big Ten season hitting its stride, Happ said the biggest area that the Badgers need to improve on is gaining consistency.
“The biggest thing is consistency,” said Happ, who recorded team highs with 17 points and eight rebounds. “The last game it was our defense that hurt us, and this game it was our offense.”
Gard said he remains confident that the Badgers can overcome their shooting woes.
“This group has a will and a fight,” Gard said. “We’ll make shots. We’ve got to get to the free-throw line. We’ve got to be there 17 times in the first half. That’s a mentality and aggressiveness at the rim that we need to continue to evolve and get better with.”
And make no mistake about it, Gard said that Happ is spending time working on his free-throw shooting.
“We’ve put him in different situations consistently in practice and that’s one of the final hurdles,” Gard said. “As great a player he is, it’s one of the final hurdles we have to help him get over and get through.”
