Needing to stack wins to solidify an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, the University of Wisconsin put up a fight worthy of being selected by the committee in four days. Problem was that the Badgers' fight didn’t start until they were down by a season-worst 27 points.

A flat start by the 12th-seeded Badgers dug them too deep of a hole to try and climb out of, as Wisconsin’s furious second-half comeback got no closer than four points in what was ultimately a 65-57 defeat to No.13 Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago’s United Center.

Despite finishing three games out of a second-place tie in the conference, the Badgers (17-14) were forced to play in the first round of the conference tournament for the first time since the field expanded in 2015. The first half showed the reason why Wisconsin finished where it did and why the Badgers are likely going to have an uncomfortable wait until the brackets are announced on Sunday night.

Here are my takeaways from Wisconsin’s short stay in the conference’s postseason tournament.

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard could sense something was off with his team in the early moments of Wednesday’s tournament. Despite the business-like approach put forth by Tyler Wahl, Chucky Hepburn, and Connor Essegian during a media conference Tuesday, the Badgers remained a young group that has dealt with a lot of painful lessons this season.

Knowing they probably needed a good showing to solidify a bid, the Badgers played tentative in the first half and were stream rolled by an Ohio State team that was playing with nothing to lose.

The result was the Buckeyes shooting 68.2 percent from the field in the first half, doing most of the damage on two-point shots (11-for-15) and adding timely shots from the perimeter (4-for-7). UW committed only four fouls in the first half, a sign to Gard that the Badgers were getting into shooter’s lanes and harassing them nearly enough to make them uncomfortable or stopping dribble penetration.

“We threw the ball away, didn't handle simple overplays,” Gard said. “That told me we were hesitant and tentative, and they were the more aggressive team in the first 20.”

Wisconsin played tight and the end results showed it. No player scored more than six points in the first half and the team combined for seven field goals, two less than the Buckeyes made on their stretch of nine straight that lasted from the 12:35 mark to 4:44.

“I feel like seeing those shots not go in definitely played on us, and it affected our defense,” Wahl said. “They were super aggressive. We were not sound on defense by the start of it, and from the shots not going in, we just dug ourselves in a huge hole, and it was hard to come back from that.”

Crowl was the leading scorer with his six points, but Gard thought the junior looked “heavy-legged” and was struggling to finish plays around the rim.

“We weren't asserting,” Gard said. “We weren't attacking the paint like we have at times. We've watched his growth and development, and one of the big jumps he's got to make is he's got to be assertive and aggressive and try to -- I sometimes tell him he's too unselfish. He's always looking to pass instead of trying to go score. So that's part of his maturity and growth.”

Say what you want about the overall talent of this Wisconsin team and the questionable execution/decision-making this team has had in critical moments this season, but the one thing that can’t be debated is that the Badgers continued to play hard to the bitter end.

UW hasn’t won consecutive games in over two months, and started its postseason run down 27 points with 15:31 remaining, yet didn’t pack it in when they easily could have waved the white flag.

The Badgers chipped away throughout the second half, starting with a 9-0 run that included Jordan Davis hitting UW’s first three-pointer at the 14:17 mark (the Badgers had missed their first 10) and Essegian weaving through traffic for an acrobatic off-balanced layup.

Wahl was nonexistent in the first half (like many of his teammates) but the senior had 17 points and nine rebounds in the second half alone, including a personal 8-0 run that brought Wisconsin to within 55-41 with 8:38 remaining.

The biggest noise came with Essegian, Hepburn, and Wahl hit three-pointers on three consecutive possessions, capping an 11-0 run that brought the Badgers to within five with 2:13 remaining. UW eventually cut it to four but managed only five points on its final 10 possessions and petered out.

“We knew what the stakes were,” Wahl said. “We had a little talk at the locker room at halftime. We knew what was at stake, and we knew what we had to do. We had to come out with a lot more better energy, and we had to get some stops. We got some down the stretch, and it just wasn't enough.”

Wisconsin must now sit and wait until Sunday to find out if the Badgers have done enough to warrant a selection into the NCAA Tournament. Looking at some of the teams that bracketologist are comparing them to, it’s not an encouraging sight.

Wisconsin: 17-14 overall, NET ranking – 78, Quad-1 record – 6-7, Quad-2 record – 5-6.

Penn State: 19-12 overall, NET ranking – 56, Quad-1 record – 5-6, Quad-2 record – 4-5.

Mississippi State: 20-11 overall, NET ranking – 46, Quad-1 record – 4-7, Quad-2 record – 3-3.

Michigan: 17-14 overall, NET ranking – 54, Quad-1 record – 3-11, Quad-2 record – 5-2.

Utah State: 24-7 overall, NET ranking – 21, Quad-1 record – 1-4, Quad-2 record – 8-1.

Rutgers: 18-13 overall, NET ranking – 42, Quad-1 record – 5-6, Quad-2 record – 4-4.

Nevada: 21-9 overall, NET ranking – 36, Quad-1 record – 4-5, Quad-2 record – 3-2.

Oklahoma State: 18-14 overall, NET ranking – 43, Quad-1 record – 6-11, Quad-2 record – 3-2.

The Badgers easily have the worse NET ranking of the group (a ranking that could/should go down once the Ohio State loss is factored in) and have no more games to play. Of the teams mentioned, every team plays Thursday: Michigan, Penn State, and Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, Mississippi State is in the SEC second round, and Nevada and Utah State play in the Mountain West quarterfinals. Oklahoma State is the only team that played Wednesday and they won a Quad-2 game.

The path for the Badgers is exceptionally narrow, if there even is one at all.

10 – First round exits for Wisconsin in 25 Big Ten Tournament appearances.

24.0 – Shooting percentage for Wisconsin’s three starting guards: Essegian (4-13), Hepburn (2-9), and Klesmit (0-3).

13.2 – Scoring average for Wahl over the last five games. He finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.

4-22 – Three-point shooting for Wisconsin against Ohio State

52.3 – Shooting percentage for the Buckeyes, the seventh time the Badgers have allowed an opponent to shoot over 50 percent from the field, which includes the last three games.

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