The Wisconsin Badgers saw one of their more memorable seasons in recent years come to an abrupt end, as they lost to the High Point Panthers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on a go-ahead layup.
It was a brutal end to a season that had its ups and downs, as the Badgers were riding hot going into the tournament. It was also one of the more enjoyable teams in recent years for the fanbase, with Wisconsin scoring the third-most points per game in program history.
However, it’s now back to the
drawing board for the Badgers, who have a lot of questions to answer when it comes to retention and attacking the transfer portal with their current roster.
Last week, head coach Greg Gard went on the Mike Heller Show, where he talked about this year’s team and how the season ended.
“Yeah, I think there’s no doubt in that specific instance in that game, you know, they beat us,” Gard said about the High Point loss. “I felt they did, between the threes they made and some other plays and some shots we didn’t make.
“And I think the one thing, Mike, I’ve tried to keep in perspective, I know everyone on the outside gets caught up on what the name on the front of the jersey says on who you’re playing at this time of year. And when you look at the rosters, the age of guys, where they’ve been, those type of things. When you got a team that’s won 31 games, they’ve obviously had a terrific year and were a very experienced group. So you see a lot of that. I think we just get caught in the name on the jersey and say, well, ‘if it’s not a name we don’t recognize, they can’t be very good.’ Or why is this team losing to that team? But, I mean, you evaluate it.”
The biggest factor to Gard, both in the High Point and just overall during the season, was the team’s defensive struggles. Wisconsin has historically been seen as a top defensive team, ranking inside the top 50 of KenPom’s defensive efficiency in every year since 2019.
That wasn’t the case this season, as the Badgers never really found their footing and ended as the No. 56 defense in KenPom’s rankings, in comparison to their No. 11-ranked offense.
“This group, for me, we were never where we needed to be defensively,” Gard acknowledged. “We’ve had some really good teams defensively. This was not one of them. This group, really, from a personality standpoint, an identity standpoint, hung their hat on the offensive end. And so that obviously is part of it. And then, you know, we had several possessions down the stretch where we missed layups, missed some shots, and they were able to make some things happen for them.
“And that’s the fine line that you walk where when you’re in this tournament, when you’re in a single elimination tournament, you know, I know you were talking about the Brewers on the outset here before I jumped on. Just imagine Major League Baseball in the playoffs with a one-game playoff or the NBA. In a one-game playoff. And so, yeah, there are a lot of things we need to get better at defensively. We were never where we needed to be all year. You saw when we won, we had the big wins, we outscored teams. And it— offense has to be good if you want to be playing at this time of year. Yet this coming weekend, you have to have a top 10, roughly, offense, and you got to get your defense close to the top 25. We obviously, we were not in the top 25 defensively. So those are the things that you continue to evaluate and tweak, and some of it’s the adjustment of different personnel, and the identity of the group that you have on the floor.”
Wisconsin will look to focus on improving that defense this offseason, with its first move reflecting that. The Badgers landed Australian point guard Owen Foxwell on Saturday, and the 22-year-old is perceived as a quality defender at the point guard position.
But they need to be better across the board defensively with more consistency in 2026.
