MADISON, Wis. - The concern generated from the University of Wisconsin's Saturday dud is far-reaching.

The Badgers had a straightforward path to a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament, provided they beat a Penn State team that had been eliminated from the conference tournament and had little to play for other than breaking a 22-year road losing streak in the series. This should be enough to motivate a team, especially on a day when they honored six of their seniors who were critical to the season's success.

Instead, No.12 Wisconsin's 86-75 defeat to the Nittany Lions continued a trend of a third straight game with inefficient offense and a season-long battle of being cohesive defensively. More staggering and surprising, the Badgers' response when Penn State surged in front was meager.

"The bite wasn't there necessarily to end the first half and all the way through the second half," senior Steven Crowl said. "We didn't have enough grit, enough bite in that second half. Credit to them for taking it to us."

In its worst Senior Day loss since the 1998-99 season, Wisconsin was outscored by 24 points in the final 25 minutes by the 17th-place team in the Big Ten.

It was a performance unbecoming of a top team in the Big Ten or the NCAA Tournament field. The Badgers (23-8, 13-7 Big Ten) will find out their seed and whether they can get seeded in Milwaukee when the brackets are announced on Sunday night. However, the immediate ramifications are that UW has to play in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament against either No.12 seed Minnesota or No.13 seed Northwestern (1:30 p.m./Big Ten Network).

UW won at Northwestern on February 1 and has defeated Minnesota twice this season, most recently on March 5 in Minneapolis.

The victory over the Wildcats was the start of a five-game win streak that included a four-day stretch in which the Badgers won at No.7 Purdue and ended a nine-game streak against Illinois. It represented Wisconsin's first consecutive 90-point Big Ten games in 33 years.

The Badgers are 2-3 since, including losing two at home in which they were 80 percent favorites to win before the game and led by double figures in the first half. When UW takes the floor at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, it will be over three weeks since it had a resume-enchanting win.

“Like I told them, we’re lucky. We get to play again,” head coach Greg Gard said. “But from here on out, if you play like this, you won’t play long.”

Defense hasn't been the main problem over the closing stretch, although it was problematic Saturday when the Badgers allowed Penn State to dictate the game. The Badgers had allowed only four of its 30 opponents to shoot over 50 percent on the season, and none higher than Purdue's 51.8 percent, but UW fouled too much, didn't handle screens well, and were slow with rotations. Penn State scored 24 points in the paint, went 6-for-11 from three, and 9-for-12 from the line in the second half. Penn State finished at 56.4 percent, including 60 percent in the second half.

Turnovers have been untimely and game-changing throughout this stretch. Wisconsin committed five on its final six possessions of regulation to allow Oregon to ultimately tie the game and win in overtime. UW turned the ball over four times in the final 6:10 at Michigan State. The Badgers committed nine turnovers against the Nittany Lions, two in the second half, but the seven in the first half gave Penn State nine points and prevented UW from building upon what was a 13-point lead.

The biggest culprit is the offense, which has been the season's biggest talking point for its efficiency and high scoring and now for its struggles. UW is 37-143 (25.9 percent) from three over the last five games and can turn from red hot to ice cold. UW made six of its first seven threes against Penn State before missing 16 of its next 17.

Shooting threes is nothing new for Wisconsin. They have shot over 30 threes 13 times this season and are on pace to shoot and make more threes than ever since the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87. To the player's defense, the looks are open, and the Badgers are built on all five players being able to shoot the three. However, the lack of aggression or careless aggression has prevented the offense from finding other ways to score.

Penn State's Yanic Konan Niederhauser had five blocks inside because UW continued to attack him with straight-line drives or in one-on-one matchups. UW went 7-for-20 on layups, caused by driving too far into the paint on dribble penetration and trying to play through Niederhauser instead of around him. The Badgers' starting frontcourt of John Blackwell, Kamari McGee, and John Tonje going a combined 12-for-39 emphasized the lack of efficiency, including missing seven shots during a 10-possession stretch where UW didn't score.

Losing that spark after halftime has become a trend. UW shot 28.6 percent from the floor and 21.4 percent from 3 in the second half, six days after shooting 30.3 percent and 18.8 percent from three in the second half at Michigan State. In UW's three losses, the Badgers have been outscored by 16, 11, and 16 after halftime.

"We just have to be aggressive and really attack," Tonje said, "not get on our heels."

Getting out of this rut before the postseason begins will be largely dependent on Wisconsin's health. The Badgers haven't had senior Max Klesmit for the last three-and-a-half games. His shooting has struggled, but he's a veteran presence who is one of UW's best defenders, passers, and free-throw shooters.

UW was also a different offensive team without Nolan Winter in the second half on Saturday. Appearing to hurt his shoulder on a put-back dunk that gave the Badgers a 47-45 lead, Winter briefly returned later in the half but was pulled when it was clear he was laboring. Without UW's best rebounder, Penn State was plus-five on the glass in the second half.

Without two starters, Wisconsin looked like a shell of itself, and its lack of depth was exposed.

“We have no one to blame but ourselves, myself included,” Gard said. “I’ve got to continue to push buttons and find ways, and we’ve got to get healthy.”

It's the type of loss the Badgers would love to flush and forget if it didn't fit a growing, troubling narrative. Wisconsin is guaranteed two more games in its season, precious little time to regain its fight before another season ends in bitter disappointment.

"It's another part of the road," Tonje said. "We just have to learn from this adversity and be ready for next week."

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