Wisconsin Anxious to Regroup in Big Ten Tournament
MADISON, Wis. – Although there was still a chance the University of Wisconsin could emerge as the sole conference champions, neither Brad Davison, Tyler Wahl, and Chris Vogt had any interest in watching the outcome between Iowa and Illinois later that night. After a stunning home defeat to last-place Nebraska, the trio of veterans were already in the process of moving on to the postseason.
“Losing stinks. It really hurts,” Davison said. “We’re going to watch the film. We’re going to be particular and make sure we build off this, maybe get a little wake-up call as we enter the Big Ten Tournament.”
If Wisconsin (24-6, 15-5 Big Ten) could stomach watching, what they saw wasn’t likely enjoyable. Iowa lost, 73-71, despite leading by 15 points in the first half, six points at halftime, missing 12 free throws, and an open 3-pointer near the buzzer.
Claiming share to its first conference title since 2005, Illinois (22-8, 15-5) earned the tournament’s top seed because of its victory over the Badgers in Champaign last month. As the No.2 seed, Wisconsin will play either No.7 Michigan State or No.10 Maryland at 5:30 p.m. Friday. That should give enough time for the players to process letting a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.
The Huskers entered the day in last place and were playing without leading scorer Bryce McGowens, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, but outhustled and outplayed the Badgers for long stretches. That was especially evident over the final 5:48 when the Huskers closed the game on a 12-2 run and UW – who was playing without first-team All-Big Ten selection Johnny Davis for most of the second half – couldn’t convert opportunities.
Davis reaggravated an ankle injury with 17:32 remaining but said Tuesday that he expects to play in the conference tournament.
The way the Badgers played in the 74-73 loss frustrated head coach Greg Gard more than preventing Illinois from sharing the conference title, self-inflicted wounds with early turnovers, breakdowns defensively, and missed open looks. It’s happened five previous times this season in losses but never in consecutive games.
“The day wasn’t good, but the season has been fantastic,” Gard said. “We obviously have more to play. Everybody is 0-0 and you move on to the next one and get ready to go.”
The only solace is that the Badgers’ path was going to be challenging on either end of the bracket. Had Wisconsin won, the Badgers would be in the top half of the bracket with No.4 Rutgers, No.5 Iowa, No.8 Michigan, and No.9 Indiana. The Scarlet Knights and Hoosiers gave the Badgers fits this season while matchups with Iowa and Michigan would generate headlines from past off-the-court issues.
Instead, the Badgers will have to go through either Maryland or Michigan State in the quarterfinals and then either Purdue or Ohio State in the semifinals. Wisconsin went 5-1 against the teams that would have been in the top half in its bracket and 5-2 against the top teams in its lower portion of the bracket.
"You keep the same kind of focus (because) it's one game at a time," Gard said. "(We're) not trying to overemphasize one game over another. We always try to operate the day we're in. We'll try to practice really well today, correct some things that didn't go our way from Sunday and learn from that and then quickly turn the page.
"It's going to be a challenge regardless. You get to this time of year, seeding doesn't matter. You got to take care of the 40 minutes in front of you and hopefully, we're able to do that and play deep into the weekend."
The Badgers have been the No.2 seed four previous conference tournaments with great success, winning the title in 2004 and a pair of runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2017.
“We have all of our goals in front of us,” Davison said. “We keep saying the best is yet to come. We accomplished our first goal. We got the Big Ten championship we wanted. Now we get to go out there and chase another title … Now March Madness starts.”
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