The Wisconsin Badgers suffered a crushing loss on the road to the Oregon Ducks on Wednesday, falling short 85-71 to a team that had the second-worst record in conference play. It marks the second straight ugly road loss for the Badgers after their 86-69 defeat to the Ohio State Buckeyes last week.
It was an ugly performance offensively for the Badgers, who were far too reliant on threes and got dominated in the paint. Defensively, Wisconsin really struggled in the second half, which was an issue in a slower-paced game.
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With the loss, the Badgers fall to 19-9 on the season and 11-6 in conference play. While it doesn’t hurt Wisconsin’s chances of making the tournament, the defeat does put the Badgers trending downwards again. Additionally, it’s a significant blow to the team’s hopes of landing a top four seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s loss to Oregon on Wednesday.
Paint struggles
Wisconsin got off to a good start, leading 8-2 after the first two and a half minutes, but dealt with afive-minute lull in the first half that allowed Oregon to keep up for the remainder of the period.
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From the jump, though, the Badgers struggled to not only get paint touches but also finish when opportunities were there. They got good looks from three, but became too three-point reliant with some questionable shot selection, and the inefficiencies started to come out.
The Badgers were just 9 of 30 from the field in the first half and 3 of 9 inside the arc. They didn’t seek out looks near the rim enough and just didn’t play with the level of physicality when it came to attacking the rim, despite rebounding well on the offensive glass.
Yes, this Badgers team will live and die by the three-point line, but they also needed to conjure looks at the rim, which didn’t happen enough.
In the second half, Wisconsin was, once again, heavily seeking out the three-point line and struggling inside the paint. They were just 5 of 12 inside the arc and finished the game with just 10 paint points. But it wasn’t only on the offensive end where the Badgers struggled in the paint.
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Oregon looked to attack the paint early and often, even if looks weren’t falling. They were 8 of 20 inside the arc in the first half with 12 points in the paint, but became really efficient in the second half, shooting 11 of 15 on twos. That proved to be the killer for Wisconsin, as Oregon’s offensive formula was the exact opposite of theirs.
Scoring lulls
Wisconsin got off to a good start in both halves. Usually, when that happens with this Badgers squad, they’re able to pull away and secure a victory. Especially against a slower-paced team that struggles to play from behind.
Well, Wednesday was just uncharacteristic of the Badgers. After getting out to a 21-12 lead with 12:36 remaining in the half, thanks to four early three-pointers, the Badgers didn’t score until the 7:02 mark of the first half. That’s 5:34 without a point. During that stretch, Oregon was able to cut the lead to one point and kept things competitive for the rest of the half, as Wisconsin struggled from the perimeter.
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Then, in the second half, Wisconsin got out to a 47-42 lead through the first five minutes of the period. But they had another 5+ minute stretch without a point, going scoreless from the 15:02 mark to the 9:53 mark, where the Ducks were able to flip the lead with a 9-0 run.
That wasn’t all though. After a Braeden Carrington jumper that made it 51-49 Oregon at the 9:53 mark, Wisconsin went scoreless for another 2:20, where the Ducks tacked on seven more points and increased their lead to nine.
Wisconsin could never recover from there and went on to suffer one of, if not the worst loss of their season.
Turnovers
It hasn’t been much of a talking point in the second half of the season because Wisconsin has been far better there, but turnovers have popped up for the Badgers in each of their last two losses.
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For a team that’s amongst the best in the Big Ten at limiting turnovers, the Badgers had 12 on Wednesday, with Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde, John Blackwell, Austin Rapp, and Hayden Jones all having a pair.
It wasn’t just the turnovers that were costly; it was how Oregon responded off them. The Ducks had an astounding 24 points off the 12 Badgers turnovers, which clearly played a big factor into the game, especially in the second half, where Wisconsin had nine.
Oregon had eight turnovers themselves, but Wisconsin only manufactured 11 points off those turnovers. The Ducks also completely dominated the fastbreak, despite playing at a far slower pace from the Badgers. They competely neutralized Nick Boyd and his renowned speed, allowing just four fastbreak points, while scoring 17 themselves.
Those two factors were big for Oregon in the upset.
