MADISON, Wis. – The look of dejection was evident on the faces of members of the University of Wisconsin Saturday afternoon.

Chucky Hepburn flailed his arms to his side when missed assignments led to uncontested dunks. The starters delivered mediocre high fives as they checked out of the game for the final time. The bench sat in silence, not evening mustering enough energy to applaud a John Blackwell three-pointer in the final three minutes.

After climbing out of the early hole it dug for itself in the first eight days of the season, a 98-73 loss to top-ranked Arizona felt like the Badgers had lost their footing.

“They're better than us right now. December 9, they're better than us,” head coach Greg Gard said. “If we want to be at that level, at the top of the mountain, we've got work to do."

UW put in the work after a sloppy start to the season, entering the weekend riding a wave of momentum with six consecutive wins. That stretch pushed them into the AP Top 25 rankings for the first time since last January, gave them three wins over KenPom Top30 teams (Marquette, Michigan State, and Virginia), and won three games away from home, giving them the title of the Fort Myers Tip-Off and a triumph in its conference opener.

So, seeing everything unravel quickly in the first half, as the Wildcats went on a 20-2 run that effectively put the result to bed by halftime, was a bitter pill to swallow.

“Obviously going against the No. 1 team you're gonna kind of find out some things about yourself,” Wisconsin senior forward Steven Crowl said. “It was a good measuring stick for us. We can really see where we're at and fix those things.”

The Badgers will analyze the tape to figure out how things went sideways so quickly. The game was tied at 21 with 9:46 remaining in the first half and again at 23 with 8:50 remaining, the results of Tyler Wahl and Carter Gilmore finding shooting space and converting in the paint.

When Wisconsin made its next field goal, six minutes and 30 seconds had elapsed, the deficit grew to 15 and was never trimmed under four possessions. It was on that stretch that Wisconsin went from upset-minded to holding on for dear life, to being run out of the gym.

“We stuck with them a little bit,” Wahl said, “At the end of the day we’ve got to be better defensively. We’ve all got to be on the same page.”

Wisconsin was quick to give Arizona credit. The Wildcats look every bit like the top team in the country and one of a handful of teams who could cut down the nets in Phoenix, thanks to their athleticism, balance, and key additions through the transfer portal.

They entered Saturday No.2 in the nation in scoring (93.4 ppg), No.12 in field goal accuracy (50.6 percent), and outrebounded teams by 19.1 boards per game.

But Gard fully acknowledged that Wisconsin didn’t help matters thanks to a number of self-inflicted problems, namely defense, rebounding, and scoring at the rim.

During Wisconsin’s win streak, the Badgers were out-rebounding opponents by 11.2 rpg, pulling in 12.8 offensive boards per game, and outscoring teams by 9.7 ppg in the paint. It was a big contributor to Wisconsin winning by an average of 14.7 points per game, allowing only 56.7 points.

No longer the bigger, stronger team in the post, Arizona outscored Wisconsin in the paint by 10 and outrebounded them by nine, shot 18 more free throws and made 11 more, and picked apart the rim protection. The Wildcats shot over 56 percent in each half and averaged 1.38 points per possession.

Gard admitted it was hard for Wisconsin to simulate the size of Arizona’s starting frontcourt in Keshad Johnson (6-7, 225 pounds) and Oumar Ballo (7-0, 260). The pair combined for 26 points on 12 of 18 shooting. Each player had nine rebounds, while Johnson added four assists and Ballo had three blocks and two steals.

It was a harsh wake-up slap, UW’s defense must be better to contend with teams with bigger frontcourts or more overall athleticism.

“For us, it’s all on the defensive end cleaning stuff up,” Crowl said. “That’s on all of us, not one person. Whether it’s a ball screen or rebounding goes into that. Cleaning stuff up on the defensive end stood out.”

In Wisconsin’s wins this season, Wahl and Crowl are 51.4 percent (54 of 105) from the floor. Crowl was 5-for-9 but just 1-for-4 in the first half. Wahl finished 3-for-10.

Throw in leading scorer A.J. Storr going 4-for-12, the Badgers were only 13-for-24 on shots around the rim, leading to transition opportunities for Arizona that didn’t allow Wisconsin to set its defense.

“Whether it’s a 5-on-4 or a 4-on-3, they are a load,” Wahl said. “They come downhill fast.”

“I don’t feel bad with the shots we were taking. I thought we were getting the balls in good spots. A couple of them just didn’t go in. I feel like (the shots) rimmed out, hit the back of the rim, but I feel good with the shots I was taking, and Steve was taking. It wasn’t our night necessarily. Some days it’s going to go in, some days it’s not.”

Gard and the players shook off the notion that their confidence was shaken, even though there was a clear separation between them and the top team in the country. The Badgers went 2-1 through “the gauntlet” portion of their schedule, with Wahl pointing to UW getting the important Big Ten win at the Spartans.

Gard said the result didn't shake any confidence built across a positive couple of weeks for Wisconsin. But even still, there was some clear separation. Wisconsin playing at its best might not have mattered Saturday.

UW plays two home games against mid-major teams the remainder of the month before conference play resumes hosting Iowa on January 2, a perfect time to refine areas Arizona exposed.

“We can go down two paths, either learn from it and get better or dwell on it and lose confidence,” Crowl said. “I think most of the guys in here are going to learn from it, watch the film, and learn those things we’ve got to shore up.”

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