PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The conversation that Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard had with his players in the locker room is going to remain private. It’s not because of the sanctity of the team locker room, but largely because the words can’t be repeated without a five-second delay.

“They kicked our ass,” Gard said poignantly.

There was no sugarcoating it; Wisconsin’s first road game of the 2023-24 season was a near-complete disaster. The final box score will show a 72-59 Providence victory at Amica Mutual Pavilion, but those who could stomach watching the 40-minute beating know the final score was not indicative of how badly the Badgers performed and how the Friars made them pay for it.

Here are my takeaways from UW’s flat, uninspired performance.

After getting pummeled in the low post in Friday’s 80-70 loss to No.9 Tennessee, Gard said all the defensive mistakes were correctable and forwards Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl said they would be better.

They just didn’t say when because it didn’t happen on Tuesday.

Wisconsin let an opponent take whatever offense it wanted for the second consecutive outing. Providence crashed the rim and drew fouls (11) resulting in free throws (14). The Friars – shooting just 29.6 percent as a team from the perimeter through two games – took advantage of open looks generated by slow rotations and missed assignments to go 6-for-10 from the perimeter.

The only difference was the competition level. The Volunteers were picked to finish first in the SEC. Providence was picked to finish seventh, a sign that the Badgers’ defense is letting any team look like a Final Four contender.

It was clear by the first media timeout that Wisconsin was lacking passion and energy, evident by the fact that the diving-on-the-floor hustle plays that are an identity of UW were being made instead by Providence. That in turn gave the Friars extra possessions and created open looks that they knocked down.

The communication is off, the transition defense is slow, and the rotating between defenders is a step slow. It didn't click until the final 3:36 when UW closed the game on a 13-1 ... with the Providence starters being rotated out.

“We didn’t play hard enough all the time, and it showed,” Gard said. “Playing hard covers up warts.”

Starting with the positive, Wisconsin went a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line, making all its attempts in the game for the first time since December 2020. Here ends the good news.

Not one starter was efficient offensively. In the frontcourt, Wahl was 3-for-9 and Crowl only 1-for-5. Point guard Chucky Hepburn made his second shot and then missed seven of his next eight. Max Klesmit only got off two shots as he committed four fouls, drawing the ire of Gard for “fouling too much.”

A.J. Storr led all scorers with 22 points, but the former Big East player was 1-for-6 in the first half. He went 6-for-11 in the second half but missed multiple shots around the basket that prevented the Badgers from inching closer than 15 until the final seconds.

“Everybody, including me, we just got to play harder,” said Storr, as UW was 7-for-20 on layups. “It takes no talent. It takes no skill. Just play harder.”

UW appeared to fall into old patterns when it shied away from attacking the post and started “jacking” three-point attempts. Those didn’t drop either, as UW’s 5-for-20 perimeter night gives them back-to-back games shooting 25.0 percent from the arc.

Wisconsin has a team that returns all five of its starters. Providence has a new head coach and seven new players, yet the Friars had better ball movement and synergy than the Badgers did. It was pretty telling and easy to see with Providence’s quick ball movement that rotated the ball to open shooters.

Gard rarely calls out players to the media, but he didn’t hold back on what’s holding back his two starting post players.

Wahl went 1-for-4 on shots around the rim in the first half, another slow start for the graduate senior after attempting only one shot in the first half against Tennessee. Crowl went 1-for-4 in the post and didn’t attempt a shot in the second half, not to mention getting only one of his six rebounds. After saying he was looking for contact against the Vols instead of hunting his shot, Crowl didn’t play through contact nearly enough against Providence before disappearing after halftime.

“Finish,” Gard said forcefully. “Finish. They’ve been here nine years combined. Finish in the paint. I don’t know what else to tell you. They’ve got to finish. You get the ball that tight, you better get to the foul line, and you better finish. Oduro didn’t have trouble finishing. Hopkins didn’t have trouble finishing. You got to finish.”

Providence forward Josh Odura had 13 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting while Bryce Hopkins – a preseason all-conference pick – had 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting.

A lot of it was hesitation. UW had 13 offensive rebounds but only 10 second-chance points. Providence had only five offensive rebounds and still managed to score seven.

“We got to take what the defense gives us,” Wahl said about him and Crowl. “A lot of times we’re overthinking it or trying to get to a certain move, our bread and butter. It could be so much simpler. We need to simplify it, get to our jump hooks, get to a nice quick finish. Quick thinking about it, get the ball up on the backboard and get the ball into the hoop.”

Gard heaped praise on freshman Nolan Winter for diving on the floor for loose balls and doing his best to defend Oduro, despite the big age difference between them.

Was Winter and freshman guard John Blackwell (see below) playing harder than Crowl, Wahl, and some others? Gard didn’t deny it.

“That’s why I got to keep finding rotations that play hard,” he said.

Inserted into the game after a miscue by Storr, Blackwell’s 3-pointer was the team’s first basket at the 16:50 mark. His baseline jumper from the wing and his cleaning up a Wahl airball at the rim showcased his athleticism.

Connor Essegian was only on the floor for five seconds when he committed a dribbling turnover. In entered Blackwell, who promptly forced a Providence turnover.

Playing hard all game, Blackwell scored a game-high 11 bench points and had five rebounds. He was the only rotational player who finished with a net-positive four in the plus/minus rating.

“I just come in and try to make the right plays for my team,” Blackwell said. “My jump shot was falling early, so I kept being aggressive and getting into it.”

0 - Amount of time Wisconsin led, the second straight game the Badgers never held a lead. Providence led for 39:02

1-4 - Wisconsin's record in the Gavitt Games, having also lost at Creighton (2016), home to Xavier (2017), and home to Providence (2021). UW's lone win was at Xavier (2018).

25:25 - Minutes for John Blackwell, fifth most on the team.

8-for-32 - Wisconsin's shooting in the first half (25.0 percent). Badgers were also 1-for-11 from three-point range (9.1 percent). UW shot 40.6 in the second half.

0-2 - Connor Essegian's three-point numbers this season. Despite not being on the school-issued injury, Essegian played 3 minutes, 48 seconds in the first half and 2:31 in the second half.

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