Overtime: Wisconsin Doesn't Mess With Texas (Christian)

SAN DIEGO — Wisconsin (5-2) was manhandled 74-63 by TCU (5-2) in Friday’s Rady Children’s Invitational title game. While the Horned Frogs are one of the smallest teams in the country, they certainly don’t lack physicality, and punished the Badgers in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

“They had a chip on their shoulder. They just wanted it more than us,” junior guard John Blackwell told reporters.

Wisconsin Couldn’t Crack the TCU Defense

TCU entered Friday as one of the best defensive teams in the country. The Horned Frogs ranked No. 35 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency. The Horned Frogs were allowing just over 66 points per game, including having held Michigan to 67. TCU was also top 20 in steals and blocks per game.

Coming off a 104-point performance against Providence, it was tough sledding for Wisconsin. As a team, the Badgers shot a season-low 34.5 percent from the field, including 25.0 percent from 3-point range. Felt like UW was seeing ghosts all day against an aggressive TCU defense, that trapped every ball screen and overplayed the wings.

The Badgers managed just eight field goals at the rim and had nearly as many turnovers (17) as shots made (20).

“We put no pressure on the rim out of those ball screens,” head coach Greg Gard said. “When teams are that aggressive with it, you have to make them pay at the rim. I don’t think we had one ball screen roll bucket all day. We have to be more aggressive at the ‘4’ and the ‘5’ and not consistently always floating to the 3-point line. We have to start at the rim, and the 3’s will come from there.”

The Horned Frogs Were Flat Out Tougher

Until the final five minutes of the game, Wisconsin was pushed around all game by a much smaller team. The Badgers could not handle TCU’s downhill attack. On the other end, UW fell apart when the Horned Frogs got up into them. As a result, the Badgers finished with just 24 points in the paint while committing a season-high 17 turnovers against one of the smallest teams in the country.

This is a game where the stats don’t tell the whole story. TCU had a slight rebounding edge (37-35). The two teams were also even at eight offensive rebounds apiece. The Horned Frogs did outscore UW 36-24 in the paint, but anyone who watched Friday’s game saw TCU force its will on the Badgers, and just about every time UW made a run, they were able to throw the bigger punch.

“Just gotta have more fight, be more physical,” said Blackwell. “There’s going to be more teams who are just as physical or more physical inside.”

The Holes Are Maybe Bigger Than We Thought

When the 2025-26 season is complete, maybe we won’t look back at this loss to TCU as a bad one. Wisconsin also has a ton of time between now and March to get bigger. The ceiling of this Badger team is still very high, but the weaknesses we thought they had in the preseason are perhaps more troubling than anticipated.

For the second time in three games, UW’s frontcourt disappeared. This time, even junior Nolan Winter wasn’t a factor. The four rotational bigs combined for five points on 1-of-11 shooting. To their credit, they did rebound the ball much better. Winter (10), Aleksas Bieliauskas (6), and Austin Rapp (5) combined for 21 of the team’s 36 rebounds.

But the lack of frontcourt firepower offensively plays into the total depth of this team. Wisconsin had just six bench points, all from senior guard Braeden Carrington.

Then defensively, it was another nightmare-ish performance. TCU got whatever they wanted for about 30 minutes. Starting the game 9-of-13 from the field, the Horned Frogs shot 47 percent from the field and registered five dunks. 13 of their 28 field goals were either dunks or layups.

“We have to get better. I saw a lot of things we weren’t good enough at yesterday,” said Gard. “Some things that we did decently today that get lost in the result. It’s November. I don’t want to play the best basketball in November. We have to get better, we got to keep pushing forward, and improve as time goes on, and we will.

“It’s good to get knocked around a little bit and get some things exposed, because we had a long road in front of us.”

Game Ball

Blackwell held Wisconsin together in the first half. With the Badgers trailing by 14, Blackwell put his superhero cape on, putting up 21 points in the opening period, including a run of eight consecutive points when the Badgers started reeling. The junior guard finished with a game-high 30 points (8-22), six rebounds, and three steals.

“The ball was finding my way, and I was just hitting shots,” said Blackwell.

Big Picture

At some point, Wisconsin is going to have to be able to throw the ball in the post, if this team is going to get where it wants to go. The Badgers have two really talented guards and five backcourt players they can rely on, but in a game like this, you can feel the pressure they’re facing, especially when Nick Boyd doesn’t have his best stuff.

There was one point in the first half where Winter caught the ball deep, hesitated, and allowed TCU to collapse. Eventually, Winter went up with the basketball, but had zero chance of converting against multiple defenders. As good as this team had been offensively through six games, that play was just a microcosm of how it’s been on that end of the floor — if the guards don’t create it, nobody will.

So how do the Badgers develop a much-needed 1-on-1 physical presence with a group of finesse forwards?

“Keep demanding it. Set expectations high, and you hold the bar high,” said Gard. “Help each other get better and hold them accountable. We took a good step forward yesterday and today, not good enough.”

Beyond the Box Score

.883: Wisconsin averaged .883 points per possession.

5:11: The Badgers went 5:11 without a made field goal at one point in the second half.

8: Blackwell scored eight consecutive points for UW in the first half.

9: UW closed the first half on a 9-0 run to pull within 41-37 at the break.

9: TCU made nine of its first 13 field goal attempts.

11: UW missed 11 shots at the rim (8-19).

11: The Badgers forced 11 misses on 12 attempts in the second half, getting within 70-63 with 2:09 remaining.

13: TCU had 13 of their 28 field goals on dunks or layups.

14:40: The Badgers didn’t have a made field goal until the 14:40 mark of the first half, starting 0-7.

17: The Badgers committed a season-high 17 turnovers.

19: TCU led by as many as 19.

21: Blackwell scored 21 points in the first half.

24: The Badgers had a season-low 24 points in the paint.

27: UW turned the ball over on 27 percent of its possessions.