Wisconsin Suffers Biggest Loss in Greg Gard Era, 90-60 to Nebraska
Wednesday night is one the Wisconsin Badgers would like to forget, as they fell to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a brutal 90-60 road loss. Against the No. 23 team in the country, Wisconsin has continued the trend of either dominating or getting dominated.
The Badgers made history in the road loss, falling to 7-3 on the season and 1-1 in Big Ten play. Wisconsin has yet to play a game that ends in a single-digit margin through 2025-26.
Nothing Went Right in the First Half
The game was somewhat back-and-forth in the first few minutes, but things got ugly relatively quickly for the Badgers. The biggest theme? Settling for threes too early in the shot clock. The team shot 33% from the field and 21% from three. 19 of their 30 shots were from beyond the arc.
Wisconsin also committed a flurry of turnovers in the first half, with plenty of offensive fouls. Illegal screens and tips from Nebraska put the opponent in a position to thrive on both ends.
As for the Cornhuskers, they took full advantage of the Badgers, especially in the final 10 minutes of the period. Nebraska was killing Wisconsin on off-ball cuts and offensive rebounds, snagging six second-chance points. It was definitely one of, if not the most disappointing halves thus far for Wisconsin this season.
The most jarring stat is that the Badgers went nearly five minutes without a made field goal before Will Garlock made layups late in the half. Scoring droughts were a theme in the first 20 minutes.
Greg Gard relied heavily on the guard duo of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell (29.8% and 24.6% usage rates), but the two shot a combined 3-for-14 in the half for 15 points, tacking on more from the free-throw line.
No Adjustments Were Made
Things got even worse in the second half, with Nebraska continuing the same momentum that propelled it to a lead. The poor defense would continue, as the Cornhuskers won the paint points battle, 44-24. At one point, they went on an 11-0 run a little over halfway through the period.
On the offensive end, things remained consistently bad. The Badgers finished posting 34-22-82 shooting splits, barely responding to buckets with free throws (9-for-11 from the line). Aside from Aleksas Bieliauskas, Boyd and Andrew Rhode were the only rotation players to post an offensive rating above 99.
Boyd would finish with 20 points, while Nebraska had five players in double-digit scoring. Rienk Mast posted his third double-double of the season, recording 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The 30-point loss accounts for the largest margin of defeat since Gard took over the head coach for the 2015-16 season. The Badgers’ 98-70 loss to BYU on Nov. 21 tied the mark, but the Wednesday matchup set a new record. This is also Wisconsin’s biggest loss since the 2001-02 season, when the team fell to Illinois on the road, 80-48.
The Badgers will face Villanova in a non-conference contest on Dec. 19 in Milwaukee. It begins a three-game stretch of non-Big Ten matchups.
