The Wisconsin Badgers were not good against BYU. There's literally no other way to say it, they looked like a different team than the Badgers we got used to in the first four games. Not just because they lost 98-70 but because of how they lost it. According to Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard, the Badgers were out of character and did not showcase the mental toughness that he desires.
"I thought we got out of character of who we needed to be and who we have been and who we're going to have to be going forward. We can't stray and get off the track if we have a possession or two or three that go wrong, right? Um, and I thought in the first half we did. We got out of character a little bit. You can say. 'Well, we didn't make shots.' But if you have a level of toughness about you, you're going to find a way to make shots, and you'll find a way to get stops, and you'll find a way to clean up the defensive glass. So, those things we didn't do consistently enough. And that's something that we're going to have to get a lot better at."Greg Gard
The mental toughness was lacking for the Badgers according to Greg Gard
Related: 5 impactful observations from the Wisconsin basketball loss to BYU
It was really a train wreck and one of the worst offensive performances of Greg Gard's career as the head coach at Wisconsin. But for Gard, it wasn't the lack of good shooting; it was the mental toughness to make sure shots started to fall.
You can read the frustration in his words, as he clearly can't believe his Badgers let BYU walk all over them. From the jump, the Cougars came out with a plan and were blasting the Badgers. Wisconsin couldn't sustain any sort of battle back. If it were a heavyweight fight, the Cougars got a couple of good hits on the Badgers, and Wisconsin didn't find a way to get their own hits; instead, they wilted and got K-Oed.
Where do they go from here? According to Greg Gard, this is one of those games they can learn a lot from. While it's a loss on the books, it's a huge learning opportunity for his team. Especially for the younger guys. He said, "The freshmen looked like freshmen." But so did some of the transfers, too, who maybe aren't used to these top-10 matchups.
It was a rough day all around. Gard needs to right the ship because the schedule doesn't go back to Quad-4 games; it's now off to San Diego to participate in the Rady Children's Invitational, where they'll play two games: the first against Providence, and the second will be either TCU or Florida. It won't get easier after BYU.