Whatever hope was born out of Wisconsin’s wins over California and Nebraska-Omaha last week was lost over forty minutes of ugly basketball Saturday in Milwaukee. Playing without junior forward Mike Bruesewitz, the Badgers (6-4) lacked energy and poise from the opening tip, committing 10 first-half turnovers en route to a 34-20 halftime deficit. Ultimately, that deficit was simply too much to overcome as UW fell to Marquette 60-50.
Although it looked in the first half as if Wisconsin might get run out of the gym, a quick start in the second half carved 11 of the 14 points off the Marquette lead and pulled the Badgers within a single possession with 10:28 left. But while the Wisconsin run certainly woke up the Bradley Center crowd, UW could not sustain the momentum, missing several opportunities at the free throw line before finally running out of gas down the stretch.
UW climbed back into the game in large part thanks to a concerted effort to work the ball inside, forcing Marquette (6-2) into early foul trouble. The Golden Eagles committed six fouls in the first 6:26 of the half, allowing UW to shoot free throws for the final 13-plus minutes of the game. Unfortunately, the Badgers could not capitalize, making just nine-of-23 free throws including misses on five of their final six chances. Senior forward Ryan Evans was the primary culprit, making just one of his nine chances at the line. Two of those misses came on crucial one-and-one situations in the second half with UW on a run and trailing by just four.
There really weren’t any silver linings for UW in this loss. Although freshman Sam Dekker made an early impact in his first career start, he was only able to notch a single point in the second half, finishing two-for-10 from the field and just two-for-five at the free throw line.
Though Wisconsin was able to climb back, Marquette senior guard Junior Cadougan ultimately kept the Badgers at bay. After a first half that included just four points in 10 minutes, the Toronto native gave the Eagles a major boost with 14 second half points on five-of-six shooting.
Former Wisconsin commit Vander Blue also had a big night, racing out of the starting gates with 15 points by halftime and finishing with 17 points, five rebounds, and four steals in a team-high 35 minutes. In addition, Blue was a force defensively, holding Dekker without a field goal after being switched onto him defensively during the second half.
The Badgers now have half losses in non-conference play for the first time since 2001 and have just three more games before the start of Big Ten play on January 4th. Unable to get on a sustained run through the first 10 games of the season, UW needs desperately to turn things around over the final two weeks of the non-conference season in order to be in a position to compete in conference play.
At this point, a third consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 does not seem likely. But under Bo Ryan, the Badgers have never finished worse than 4th in the Big Ten and have reached the NCAA Tournament each and every year. Now definitely a “bubble” team, Ryan has his work cut out for him if he wants to keep those streaks alive.
