Takeaways from No.6 Wisconsin's 80-72 Overtime Loss at Nebraska

It appears no lead can be too big for the University of Wisconsin when it goes to Lincoln.

No.6 Wisconsin now has the dubious honor of blowing two second-half leads of at least 17 points to Nebraska in consecutive years, succumbing on Thursday in an 80-72 defeat at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

It set off a celebration for the Huskers (16-6, 6-5 Big Ten), who are trying to win the school’s first NCAA Tournament game and appear in position to make the postseason. Coupled with their home win over No.1 Purdue in January, the Huskers have knocked off two AP Top-6 opponents for the first time since 1957-58.

For Wisconsin, the Badgers (16-5, 8-2) add their name to a growing list of AP Top-10 teams to fall to unranked teams on the road. Those teams are 25-30 in such games this season, a 45.5 winning percentage. That is 27.8 percentage points lower than the historical average in such matchups.

There are more glaring numbers UW is concerned about that led to its demise, one that entirely preventable if the Badgers hadn’t gotten away from the things that had them in first place from December 5 until Thursday night.

Here are the takeaways after the Badgers fell victim to another road court storm.

The Badgers silenced the crowd going into halftime, delivering an impressive display of shooting that saw UW leading by 16 points after a 55.2 percent shooting half. But if one digs beneath the surface, the sign of the Badgers’ demise was evident. Of UW’s 16 baskets, only five came in the paint. Of UW’s 42 points, only six came from the free-throw line.

“It’s hard to sustain that for 40 minutes,” head coach Greg Gard said.

The Badgers didn’t sustain much of anything after halftime. UW missed seven of its first nine shots in the second half, with the only two makes being jumpers in the paint. With the lead down to 52-49, UW missed another six shots in a row.

The only points in the paint UW was credited with after the 17:04 mark was a Tyler Wahl second-chance layup at 3:33 (he missed the free throw for a potential three-point play) and A.J. Storr’s game-tying jumper with 23.1 seconds left.

Not only did UW settle for mid-range shots, it attempted them early in the shot clock instead of working the possession. Even though he scored a game-high 28 points, Storr was one of the biggest violators, going 4-for-11 after the first half and not getting to the rim or the line often enough, where he is and 84.3 percent shooter.

UW’s lack of presence inside was evident by getting only seven second-chance points off 11 offensive rebounds and going 8-for-12 from the foul line.

“I thought we got completely away from what makes us good,” Gard said. “We got to get back to be more disciplined in terms of shot selection. When jump shots aren’t going in, in the first half they were, but to sustain that over 40 (minutes) is pretty impossible. You got to establish yourself in the paint through the post and start attacking.”

“We’re not putting the ball in position where we can get fouled.”

Attempting one or two of those shots is OK in Gard’s mind, but the Badgers never caught themselves after making questionable decisions repeatedly to become an unreliable offense.

Nebraska’s energy and execution after halftime was the difference, and Gard acknowledged his team was beaten for loose balls frequently. Unfortunately for him, Wisconsin had a lot of instances of putting the ball on the court with a season-high 16 turnovers, including 10 in the second half and overtime.

Not surprisingly, Wisconsin was outscored 53-29 overall, 25-0 from the bench, outrebounded 25-19, and outshot 50 percent to 31.4 after halftime.

UW was sound defensively on Keisei Tominaga (2 pts, 1-for-7) but struggled to contain C.J. Wilcher, who scored 16 of his 22 points during Nebraska’s comeback. The Badgers’ turnovers had a big part in igniting him and the crowd, as eight of his points came after a UW turnover.

With Wilcher finding his offense, UW wasn't as willing to double the post or send help defense to the rim, which allowed Rienk Mask to score 14 of his 20 points after halftime.

In 14 home games, the Huskers averaged 80.6 points on 46.2 percent shooting, including 37.2 percent from three-point range. UW held them below all three of those numbers (80/44.8/33.3) because it got sped up and couldn’t regain its composure.

Steven Crowl and Wahl were called out in mid-November for their inability to finish around the rim and in the paint in an ugly road loss at Providence. The message resonated with both players, particularly Crowl, who scored in double figures in nine of the next 10 games while posting three double-doubles.

It remains to be seen if he’ll respond the same way after his performance against Nebraska.

Crowl led all players with 13 rebounds but the junior’s only two field goal attempts (a season-low) were from the perimeter and his one point was the lowest since going scoreless in 23 minutes in December 2021.

Nebraska put a bigger lineup on the floor at times with Mask, Josiah Allick, and Juwan Gary and threw plenty of post double teams at him, which seemed to have an effect. Crowl didn’t register an assist for only the third game this season and first since December 14.

It left a huge void in the offense considering Crowl ranks second on the team in scoring (11.9 ppg) and assists (2.6 apg).

“I thought he was not aggressive enough,” Gard said. “Whether they are double teaming him or not, he’s got to play with more force inside. I didn’t think with anybody in the paint we really played how we need play (or) we have been playing.”

It sets up an area of concern heading into Sunday against Purdue’s Zach Edey, considering Crowl only scored two points on five shots in last year’s two-point home loss to the Boilermakers.

“We got to help him get back to being more aggressive in (the post),” Gard said.

Wahl finished with seven points, eight rebounds, and three assists but he only took five shots, meaning UW’s starting frontcourt combined for seven attempts.

.986 - Wisconsin scored 72 points and had 16 turnovers on 73 possessions

2:04 - The Badgers didn't reach the bonus until the 2:04 mark of overtime.

3:33 - Nebraska didn't commit a foul in the second half until the 3:33 mark.

6 - UW had six turnovers in 6:09 during the second half as NU went on a 15-2

25 - Nebraska's bench outscored UW's reserves 25-0 in the second half and 34-10 for the game. Nobody on UW's bench had more than three points.

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