After being rightfully snubbed from the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the players on the University of Wisconsin appeared to have turned a page. No longer stressing about being on the bubble, the Badgers were playing looser and had pieced together three wins over the first time in over two months, the last two coming from behind and the latest one being on the road.

But the Badgers could only mask who they truly were for so long, an offensively flawed team that made things much too difficult on themselves.

“I feel like the way it ended was kind of a cap to how the season went,” said senior Tyler Wahl, hitting the nail perfectly on the head after the Badgers failed to score in the final 9:07 of their 56-54 loss to North Texas in Las Vegas.

“We get some good things going, and then something happens and it's a step backwards, take a few steps forwards, take a few steps backwards. So, yeah, that's just kind of how it went.”

Wisconsin (20-15) played in 23 games this season decided by five points or less or overtime and finished 13-10 in those games, a multitude of preventable losses that kept the Badgers from playing in the national tournament and the last one keeping them from playing for an NIT title.

Here are my takeaways from Wisconsin’s final game of the 2022-23 season.

Wisconsin and North Texas were two of slowest tempo teams in the country this season, with the Badgers ranking 341st and the Mean Green being dead last (363rd). Knowing it would likely be a low possession game, UW started 5-for-6 from the field, building a 14-point lead and seeing the struggling Chucky Hepburn go 5-for-8 from three-point range all gave the appearance the Badgers were locks to advance to Thursday’s championship.

However, UW missing eight of its final nine shots in the first half was a warning shot – the offensively challenged Badgers of the regular season were angling to make one final appearance.

The Badgers allowed the lead to get cut to five before extending it back to nine with 13:10 remaining. Other than a three-point jumper by Connor Essegian with 9:10 left, the Badgers’ offense couldn’t do anything right. UW missed layups, airballed three-pointers, committed turnovers off the inbounds pass to lead to fast breaks and played tentative, which North Texas took advantage of.

“We turned the ball over early, gave them some momentum and they got some confidence going,” head coach Greg Gard said. “Obviously a tale of two halves in terms of offense, shots not going in, or us turning the ball over.”

UW was 6-for-25 in the second half (24.0 percent) and 1-for-8 from the perimeter. After Essegian’s jumper, UW missed all 10 of its shots, committed four turnovers, missed two free throws, and couldn’t convert on three offensive rebounds.

After averaging 1.37 points per possession in the first half, that number cratered to .42 in the final 20 minutes.

UW scored 13 points in the second half, which was as many points as North Texas scored off nine Wisconsin turnovers.

Wahl went up for the tying layup was his shot was emphatically blocked at the rim by forward Aaron Scott, who swatted it so aggressively that the ball caromed out to the perimeter and was chased down by Max Klesmit. Instead of letting the possession go, Gard used his final timeout with 5.8 seconds left to reset and set up a play.

In hindsight, it may have been a mistake. Although Klesmit was near halfcourt and turning back toward the basket when Gard was in the process of signaling timeout, had he let the play continue, Wahl appeared open underneath behind two defenders, a fact he emphasized by clapping his hands in disappointment after the whistle had blown signaling the timeout.

Instead, UW had Essegian coming off a screen at the top of the key, Hepburn screening Wahl into the post on the back side and Steven Crowl following to get Hepburn free at the perimeter.

The ball got to Hepburn, who passed to Crowl in the paint. With the double team collapsing, Crowl passed to Wahl on the low block. But instead of taking the tying shot, Wahl tried to pass back to Crowl with 2.5 seconds left, only the pass never reached its target.

Wahl was charged with a turnover and the clock expired without UW getting a shot.

“Probably one pass too many,” Gard said. “Needed to get the ball up on the rim.”

There have been a few times in his personally frustrating season where Hepburn’s offense simply took over a game for the Badgers. The first half of the NIT semifinals was one of those moments.

Hepburn hit his first five three-pointers, including two on one possession, for 15 points in the opening half to stake the Badgers to a 41-26 lead at the break. Hepburn entered Vegas as a 39.4 percent perimeter shooter on the season but was only 4-for-23 in four postseason games. He got in a rhythm early with corner three-pointers and delivered a big moment with a six-point trip with 8:21 remaining.

Hitting a three-pointer from the edge of the oversized NIT center court logo, Wisconsin got another possession following a loose ball foul. Hepburn inbounded the ball to Wahl and broke to the perimeter. Wahl immediately fed the ball back to him and Hepburn hit the three-pointer in stride, giving UW a 32-21 lead.

Hepburn also made plays off the dribble, lobbing a pass to Wahl at the rim after the senior got free off a Klesmit screen and hit Crowl for a fast-break layup two possessions later.

Although Hepburn disagrees, it was clear North Texas changed its defensive approach on him by putting senior guard Kai Huntsberry on the UW sophomore. The result was no points, four shots, no perimeter shots, and two turnovers in 10 minutes.

“It's just the trust that they have in me to go out and play defense, and I know I have people behind me,” Huntsberry said. “It's the trust we built throughout the year, and throughout the whole time is, I have somebody behind me. Whatever I can do, just don't let them get hot and I know (Tyler Perry) has my back or somebody else has my back there.”

13-8 – Wisconsin’s record this season in games decided by five points or less

4-8 – Free throw numbers for Wisconsin, its lowest makes and attempts of its four NIT games

9-5 – Wisconsin’s record against teams currently in Conference USA

3 – Bench points from Wisconsin (a three-pointer in the first half by Isaac Lindsey)

6-5 – Wisconsin’s overall record in five NIT appearances

0 – Number of players who have exhausted their eligibility on Wisconsin’s roster (seniors Jahcobi Neath and Wahl have the option to return for their bonus COVID year).

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