MADISON, Wis. – The only positive thing coming out of the Kohl Center on Saturday afternoon was that No.11 Wisconsin has to wait only three days before playing again.

Everything else coming out of the home locker room was overwhelmingly negative, as one would expect when the Badgers felt that inexplicably gave a second Big Ten home game away this season.

Leading by 17 points early and double digits through the first 14-plus minutes of the second half, Wisconsin’s bad ball security and poor offensive flow contributed to a 77-73 overtime loss to unranked Oregon.

Unlike the 67-64 home loss to Michigan to open the Big Ten season back in December, this loss stings because of where Wisconsin found itself in the conference standings. Instead of being one game behind Michigan State with four games to go, the Badgers (21-6, 11-5 Big Ten) find themselves two games behind the Spartans and took some of the championship luster off next Sunday’s matchup in East Lansing.

Like the December loss to the Wolverines, the defense wasn’t the problem. Wisconsin held the Ducks to 1.027 points over 75 possessions. However, the offense looked like a shell of itself over the final 25 minutes with turnovers, a lack of aggressiveness, and an overall lack of excitement, all resulting in Wisconsin getting what it deserved.

“The pressure maybe gets to us a little bit to those teams that want to get out and deny us and make our lives a little bit difficult,” said senior Steven Crowl, whose career-high six turnovers contributed to the mess. “It’s a good learning experience for us. We rather take this one on the chin now than March.”

Here are my takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Oregon coach Dana Altman was impressed during his scouting of Wisconsin's proficiency in generating high-percentage shots with its ball movement and ending most possessions with shot attempts by limiting turnovers.

Not many teams pressure Wisconsin full court, so Oregon started doing it early in the second half and reaped its benefits by wearing down Wisconsin’s offense. The result was sloppy passes, carelessness, and many unforced mistakes leading to a season-high 17 turnovers.

“It took us out of our regular flow,” senior John Tonje said.

Turnovers hadn’t been a big issue for the Badgers since they committed 16 in a loss at Marquette and equaled that total a month later in a road win at Rutgers. The Badgers’ 9.8 turnovers per game were the lowest in the Big Ten, and UW’s 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio was the third-best ratio in school history.

UW had committed only 1.8 turnovers in the second half over the last six games to start creeping toward the top of the league standings. In the second half alone, the Badgers had 11 turnovers. Oregon turned them into 17 points to force overtime, including the final seven points they scored.

It’s not like the Ducks are a prolific turnover-forcing team either. Oregon entered the weekend ranked 167th with 12.26 forced turnovers per game.

The Badgers led by 15 with 7:57 remaining and 14 with 6:15 to go when the offense started malfunctioning. Over the final 11 possessions, UW had more turnovers (six) than shot attempts (five). Six turnovers came in the final 3:48, as UW attempted only one shot in the final 3:16 (Max Klesmit’s potential game-winner from the free throw line with two seconds left). UW had no offensive rebounds down the stretch either.

“It’s a lack of aggression,” head coach Greg Gard said of the turnovers. “It’s a tentativeness that I thought we didn’t play on our toes and keep the throttle down like we had in the first half. We didn’t attack the pressure. They got us to walk the ball up and play slower.”

Altman said Oregon’s defense started with T.J. Bamba’s defense on Tonje. UW’s All-American candidate caught fire in the first half by scoring 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting. His efficiency evaporated after that, as he finished with 22 points but was only 3-for-10 after halftime and went 2-for-10 from three-point range.

“He was physical with him, wouldn’t let him get daylight,” Gard said of Bamba’s defense of Tonje. “We tried to run some stuff and free him up off things, but Bamba was pretty well locked into him.”

UW went 7-for-28 on threes, a credit to Jackson Shelstad and other Oregon guards applying ball pressure on the perimeter by getting their hands on loose balls and contesting shots.

All of it led to Wisconsin’s veterans failing to do the simple fundamental thing of catching the ball.

“I watched so many eyes catch the ball and not look at the rim, not be ready to shoot the ball,” Gard said. “You play tentative and you’re not in your attack, aggressive mindset that we’ve been in for a long time, you have a tendency to fumble, bumble, and throw the ball where you shouldn’t throw it. Those things start adding up. It’s all on us.

“We can’t get into being a tentative, not-aggressive team. We are really good when we are aggressive, and we stink when we’re not.”

Wisconsin took control of the game late in the first half with a 14-0 run that was part impressive offense and the other savvy defense. UW had six consecutive field goals on the run, continuing to attack Oregon’s interior defense with four baskets at the rim and hitting its only two first-half three-pointers (2-for-11).

The looks were high percentage because of UW’s defensive strength. The Badgers forced seven consecutive empty possessions, starting with two forced turnovers and allowing no offensive rebounds. The one-and-done possessions allowed UW to push the tempo, like when John Blackwell slung his defensive rebound down the floor to an open Carter Gilmore.

Gilmore was too far under the basket and delivered a touch pass to Tonje in the corner, resulting in an open three and a 28-11 lead.

That offense was nowhere to be seen in the second half against an Oregon defense that is average with defending the low post (182nd nationally in opponent two-point field goal percentage).

UW was 9-for-13 on shots and the rim and 13-for-18 on two-point shots in the first half but 10-for-19 after halftime. In the final 25 minutes, the Badgers were outrebounded by five and were outscored 26-14 in the lane.

The Ducks had five offensive rebounds in the final 5:32 of regulation and overtime, including one by center Nate Bittle with 1:34 remaining in overtime. Fouled by Tonje after securing the second-chance opportunity, Bittle made both free throws to put Oregon up, 72-71. UW never regained the lead.

After picking up three fouls in the first half, Bittle didn’t draw another one on his way to scoring a game-high 23 points.

When asked why the aggression evaporated in the second half, Crowl said he wasn’t strong enough with the ball and didn’t do enough to hunt his shot. It was reminiscent of earlier in the season when Crowl went through his shooting lull, as he attempted only two shots after halftime.

It wasn’t only on Crowl though. Winter only attempted three two-pointers over the same stretch, and UW was often caught standing and looking when Oregon extended pressure. That resulted in the Badgers not attacking the rim, getting trapped, and not pushing the ball up the court, allowing the Ducks to set their defense and make shots harder.

After Bittle missed a point-blank layup with 21 seconds remaining, Wisconsin appeared like it was going to survive until Blackwell whiffed on the inbounds pass to give the ball back to Oregon.

UW was leading 66-63 and had planned to foul on Oregon’s final possession to prevent the game-tying three. The clock and shot attempt didn’t work out in their favor, as Shelstad squared to hit a deep three-pointer with 12 seconds left to tie the score.

“John (Blackwell) has got to be into more,” Gard said. “We talked about if we see that situation happening, we’ll take a foul but it’s a little early to (foul) with 18 (seconds). We talked about it even at 27 (seconds) earlier, but credit Shelstad. He’s made those shots before.”

Wisconsin had a timeout available following Shelstad’s make but elected to let the possession play out. Senior Max Klesmit got a decent look but his jumper from the free-throw line was short.

“We were coming downhill,” Gard said. “They are a team that has a tendency to change defenses coming out of timeouts, traps coming out of timeouts. With a tie game, I was going to let it play out.”

The other disadvantage to Wisconsin was that the Ducks weren’t in the bonus with only five team fouls. That problem stemmed from a lack of aggressiveness throughout the second half, as UW settled for too many shots, Tonje took tougher shots, and UW’s frontcourt passed up shots. The Badgers didn’t attempt a free throw following the 2:35 mark of the first half.

“I feel like it’s more so on us,” Tonje said of the zero free throws. “I feel like we could have done a better job being aggressive and getting downhill. To not shoot any free throws the second half, that’s kind of on us. I could definitely help out with that, as well, so I definitely think that’s more so on us.”

9 – Wisconsin finished with nine assists to 17 turnovers, breaking a streak of nine straight games with more assists than turnovers.

18 – Points in the second half and overtime for Bittle, who took advantage of his hook shot on the left block as Wisconsin stayed attached to shooters to avoid kick-out threes.

25.0 – Wisconsin went 7-for-28 on three-point attempts, breaking a streak of five straight games of making at least 10 three-pointers. UW’s perimeter shooting percentage was its worst since it hit 22.7 percent (5-for-22) against Ohio State on Jan.14.

27.8 – Wisconsin’s starting guards John Blackwell and Max Klesmit struggled offensively, going a combined 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) from the floor. The duo combined for 14 points (Klesmit’s eight came within the first seven minutes of the second half), two assists, and five turnovers.

1941 – Wisconsin was denied the opportunity for its first undefeated February since the Badgers’ NCAA Championship season 64 years ago.

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