The Wisconsin Badgers basketball team recently dropped what should have been a comfortable regulation win over the Oregon Ducks in dramatic fashion.
The Badgers went into the halftime break with a double-digit lead and a recent sense of life after sleepwalking through most of the first-half of play. However, the second-half of play would prove to be entirely different for Wisconsin as the Ducks nearly snatched a potential win away from the Badgers in regulation during the final seconds.
Wisconsin Badgers Basketball Suffers 77-73 Overtime Loss to Strong Oregon Ducks Squad
Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Badgers battled heading into overtime, but ultimately could not stand toe-to-toe with the Ducks from outside during the final five minutes of play.
Star guard John Tonje struggled to get things done offensively for the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team early on in the clash against Oregon, but displayed plenty of flashes heading into halftime. Tonje was held scoreless for nearly the entirety of the first-half of play by the Ducks defense, but still managed to enter halftime with over half his 22-point total after catching fire.
However, Tonje again struggled in the second-half of play, ultimately shooting 9-of-20 from the field and 2-of-10 from long-range. Tonje was not alone in the shooting department, as both John Blackwell and Max Klesmit missed a combined nine shots from three-point range with Blackwell whiffing from deep entirely on the night.
The Badgers starting lineup shot a solid 44.4% from the floor against the Ducks, but unfortunately turned the ball over before being able to score multiple times. Along with this, the Wisconsin Badgers shot just 25% from deep with seven made three-point shots despite averaging a shot percentage of 36.3% on the season beyond the arc.
The struggles from deep appeared to cut even deeper into the wound of the loss to the Oregon Ducks as the Wisconsin Badgers had lanes in the paint consistently open.
Turnovers, Bad Shot Selection Results in Wisconsin Badgers ‘Choking’ Win Away
Wisconsin went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, which is an unusually low total for a team that has worked the paint at times this season. For example, Tonje alone averages 6.1 made free-throws a game for the Wisconsin basketball team this season. The Badgers struggled to attack the paint in the second-half, with 17 total turnovers and 40 paint points against an Oregon team that commits a huge amount of fouls down low.
Turnovers were especially costly for the Wisconsin basketball team after the Badgers turned the ball over eight times in the last ten minutes of regulation.
Moving forward for the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team, Washington, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Penn State fill out the rest of the schedule. Washington and Minnesota have been bottom of the barrel Big Ten Conference teams this season with little flash of potential.
Penn State, however, has won two games in a row for the first time since January 2nd this year and appear to finally have shown signs of what could have been. Michigan State is by far the toughest test remaining on the schedule for Wisconsin and could be a team that gives the Badgers headaches.
The Spartans currently lead the Big Ten Conference and are second in total conference rebounding, assists, and opponent points this season. Michigan State might not force the most turnovers, but the ability to turn defense into offense is something that the Spartans truly excel at. If the Wisconsin Badgers make similar mistakes against the Spartans that occurred against the Ducks, then the Badgers will likely suffer another avoidable loss.
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