The Wisconsin Badgers had another loss this week, this time to the Villanova Wildcats in a 76-66 overtime defeat.
It was a tough game where the Badgers dug themselves into a hole early, got out of it, and couldn’t finish the job in a poor overtime session that cost them their fourth loss of the season.
Even in the loss, several Badgers played well. Nolan Winter starred with 23 points and 11 rebounds on 9/12 from the field, while playing in a game-high 43 minutes. It was an inspiring effort from the Badgers big
man, but unfortunately, not enough to put his team over the top.
After the game, Winter was visibly emotional, noting the importance of being consistent over 40 minutes.
“This team’s full of winners. For myself, I know I’m a winner,” Winter said. “And to go through losses and some trials like that, it’s not what I hold this team to be. And as a leader of this team and with Nick [Boyd] right here, I know that we got more in the tank, and I know what it means for us to wear Wisconsin across our chest and to go out there, to go out there and not show the effort that the state of Wisconsin deserves, the program deserves.
“Like coach said, over the second 20 minutes, I think we played a lot better as a team, and we came togethe,r and we fought, but it needs to be a full 40. I know this team’s full of winners, and we’re going to bounce back, but, yeah, this sucks. And, we’re going to get back in the gym with coach and the team and, yeah, we’re gonna bounce back.”
It was the most emotional Winter had been after a game in his three years at Wisconsin, showing the effort and care he has for the program amid a tough start to the season. He’s been setting the standard with a really strong start to the season. Now, his teammates need to follow suit.
