The Badgers have their first loss of the season, and hopefully it's also the most forgettable. Flush it and move on, type loss. It was a rematch of the team that knocked them out of the tournament, BYU, and yet they looked even worse this time, losing 98-70. Five observations showcase the miserable effort by the Badgers.
1. Badgers couldn't shoot to save their lives
Miserable, miserable shooting day for the Badgers. They shot 38% from the field, 24% from 3-point range, and 65% from the line. In all categories, that's about as terrible as the Badgers can look. It was across the board, too; only Braeden Carrington shot better than 50% in combined shooting. Everyone else was terrible. Making it nearly impossible to even stay in the game, much less win it.
2. Defense had major lapses that dug them into holes
The defense was like a moody teenager. There were times when it was good, creating momentum, big blocks or steals, and other times, it was like the Badgers didn't know their assignments. During these lapses, the hole got bigger and bigger for Wisconsin.
3. Austin Rapp had a very forgettable game
Whatever Austin Rapp did before this game, he needs to never do it again. He was off the entire game. He looked like a walk-on out there. He went 0-7 from the field, 0-5 from 3-point, and his only points came on two free throws. To top it all off, Rapp didn't even get one rebound.
It's hard to say that a random fan could go out and play an NCAA college game and put up the same numbers, but missing every shot you take except for two free throws could truly happen by a random person in seat 19, row P.
4. Nolan Winter needs help down low
To riff off the above one, Winter had a double-double, 14 points and 14 rebounds. Yet, he was basically doing it by himself. Rapp was useless in the paint in this game. The second-best post player was a true freshman, Aleksas Bieliauskas, who scored zero points but at least had four rebounds and a block.
The Badgers will struggle to win any games if Nolan Winter has to do everything in the paint.
5. The bench is a serious liability this season
Greg Gard said that his goal for the first four games of the season was to develop a bench. He saw the signs of this team. The drop off from starter to bench is extreme. This game against BYU revealed it, except for Carrington, who had 14 points in 18 minutes. He was great. Besides him, the bench had a whopping five points, and those all came from Janicki.
The stat line for the entire bench was 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. BYU's bench went 29 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals. And it was a balanced attack from the bench. If you take out Carrington's numbers from Wisconsin, it's embarrassing.
The bench needs to develop and develop fast because there will be days the starters get in foul trouble or have off-shooting days like Rapp did today. The bench needs to be at least reliable and helpful.
Rough game overall, flush it, move on.