The Wisconsin Badgers saw their season end on Thursday when they lost 83-82 to the High Point Panthers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It marked a continuing trend for head coach Greg Gard, whose squad has failed to make the second weekend since 2017.
One trend that did end for the Badgers, though, was their 21-game winning streak when hitting 80 points. Entering the tournament, the Badgers were a whopping 21-0 this season when scoring 80 points. That had been the benchmark for the Badgers all
season long, but Thursday’s game was expected to be a high-paced game with a ton of possessions, as the over/under was set at 162.5 points.
Wisconsin ultimately had 72 possessions and did score 82 points, but it wasn’t enough to beat the High Point Panthers, who shot 15 of 40 from three to finish with 83 points.
While the Badgers offense was clicking for the most part, shooting nearly 48 percent from the field and 39 percent from deep, they really struggled on the defensive end, be it closing on shooters, box outs, or more.
That allowed High Point to come back from an eight-point deficit in the second half to tie things up and eventually win the game to advance to the Round of 32. It became the first time that Wisconsin didn’t win in a game that they scored at least 80 points this season.
That described the type of game that Wisconsin faced. High Point had an excellent game, executing their game plan well, and the Badgers just couldn’t respond enough to secure the win.
Now, the Badgers are going home with their streak snapped and their season over.
