The Wisconsin Badgers saw their struggles with consistency continue on Friday, losing to the Villanova Wildcats in what was essentially a home game at Fiserv Forum.
Wisconsin came out looking like it did
against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, not being aggressive on either side of the ball and catering to Villanova’s slower tempo. They weren’t physical enough on the glass, didn’t shoot a single free throw, and had their worst offensive half of the year with 22 points.
The second half was a much better effort as the Badgers climbed back into the game, but Wisconsin didn’t have answers defensively in overtime and ended up losing 76-66.
After the game, head coach Greg Gard said that he was pleased with the effort in the second half. That now just has to translate to the rest of the game. With that second-half effort, there was a group of five or six players that caught his eye.
“For us, I thought the second half showed who we can be, who we need to be,” Gard said. “It’s what we’ve been asking for in terms of that effort and commitment on the defensive end. And obviously, you claw yourself back from down 15. Those guys that did that were a part of that.
“Five or six guys showed me who I need to have on the floor, and other guys got to continue to rise to the expectations. I thought the first half, we were not aggressive enough. We have one offensive rebound, no free throws, you know, just. And not good enough defensively. Let three-point shooters be real comfortable. The second half is what I’ll be able to hold onto, to build upon.”
That five included Wisconsin’s starters and freshman Hayden Jones, as Greg Gard went with a much different lineup strategy in this one. With Wisconsin having a nice comeback effort to start the second half, Gard didn’t pull his starters for the first 9:36 of the half. That was a change, as the head coach usually prioritizes short bursts and quick substitutions to keep players fresh.
Why was that?
“Well, that iron five or whatever you want to call them, or six with [Hayden] Jones involved there at some [point] in the second half, they set the standard,” Gard said. “So anybody that wants to be on the floor supporting and helping those guys [needs to] understand what the standard is.”
“So the rest of our frontline guys gotta [step up]. I’m not asking Nolan to hold back or slow up and let everybody else catch up to him. No, the bar’s been set. And those younger guys, those new guys, there’s some combination of both. They’re young, and they’re new. They gotta step forward, and they gotta mature and grow and improve at a fast rate, and they see what Nolan’s doing. That’s the example, that’s the standard. Meet this. Meet the standard.”
Nick Boyd and Nolan Winter played the entire second half for Wisconsin. John Blackwell missed one minute, while Andrew Rohde sat out for only three minutes. Even Wisconsin’s fifth starter, Aleksas Bieliauskas, saw 14 minutes of action in the period.
That was a stark difference from the first half, where Jack Janicki and Austin Rapp each played 10 minutes, while Hayden Jones saw five minutes of action.
Jones had his ups and downs with his minutes in the first half, recording two turnovers in four minutes. But, he also had two rebounds, including one offensive board, and was a +3 in the box score in his main stint on the court.
It’s clear that Wisconsin has a bridge with its depth right now, especially with Braeden Carrington out.
Jack Janicki is shooting under 33 percent from the field and below 30 percent from deep. Austin Rapp started the year as a starter, but did not look good defensively and had some really poor shot selection. He looked like he wasn’t playing with confidence against Villanova, not trusting his shot. He’s also had a poor start efficiency-wise (36.8 percent from the field, 28.1 percent from deep).
Then, there’s Jones, whom Gard likes because of the length on the wing. But, Jones is still learning how to be a primary ball-handler against pressure, and he isn’t much of a scoring threat either.
So, Wisconsin has a bit to figure out with its rotation outside of its starting five. And, because of that, they need their top group to be near perfect, which it hasn’t been this season. That’s led to a few rotation questions and it seems Gard is trying to figure that all out now.
