A wise man once said you need to score points to win the game. On Sunday afternoon against Oklahoma, Wisconsin could not hit the broad side of a barn, shooting 23.5% from the field, resulting in a 65-48 loss.
The Badgers did not have an answer for Oklahoma forward Ryan Spangler, who had 20 points and 14 rebounds. Wisconsin was able to shut down Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, one of the nation’s top scorers, to 12 points on 5-16 shooting. Despite the team’s absolutely abysmal offense, Wisconsin looked as good as they have all season on defense, holding Oklahoma to 42.6% shooting, and 33% from three.
The starters combined for 14-63 (22%) from the field, which certainly is not going to cut it. Nigel Hayes led the Badgers with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists despite only shooting 29% from the field. It was his fifth career double-double. Bronson Koenig really struggled, only shooting 3-18 (3-15 from 3) from the floor in 39 minutes. There’s no doubt that Wisconsin will not win many games this season with another awful shooting performance like that from Koenig.
The Badgers are 4-18 in Bo Ryan’s career at Wisconsin when scoring less than 50 points. Wisconsin only scored 10 points in the paint (Oklahoma had 34), with only 5 points from the bench.
Their defense and rebounding performance, winning the glass 46-44 with 21 offensive rebounds, kept them in the game. If a few more shots went down, who knows what the Badgers may have been able to do.
Wisconsin travels to Syracuse on Wednesday night against an undefeated Orange team. Tip-off is set for 6:15 PM CT as part of the ACC-Big Ten challenge.
Image via University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletic Department.
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