Rastall Ramblings: Badgers Play Like a Broken Record

There has been a lot of handwringing the last couple years from college basketball fans over the lack of mid-major Cinderella upsets — a staple of the NCAA Tournament that has suddenly become an endangered species.

But fear not, Greg Gard and the Wisconsin Badgers are here to do their part in keeping the spirit of March Madness alive.

After coming into the NCAA Tournament with high hopes of making their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2017 after forging a reputation as giant killers during the regular season, Wisconsin failed to even get out of the first round with a loss to the High Point Panthers of the Big South Conference last Thursday — the latest infuriating early exit for the Badgers.

That last means the Badgers are now 0-3 against 12 seeds in the NCAA Tournament under Gard, and 1-5 overall in program history. They were also the only team seeded 1-5 in this year’s tournament field that failed to advance to the second round.

Wisconsin got off to an early double-digit lead, endured a comeback bid from the Panthers and seemed to be on solid footing with an eight-point lead with five minutes left, only to see it all come crumbling down.

If you just looked at the Badgers box score, you wouldn’t have necessarily thought it had the makings of an upset. Their dynamic backcourt duo of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell were largely successful, with each shooting 50% from the field and combining for 49 points. As a team, Wisconsin shot 48% from the field, 39% from three-point range and 92% on free throws while turning the ball over a respectable 10 times.

However, they lost the rebounding battle 40 to 37 to High Point, with the Panthers owning a 13-6 edge on the offensive boards. Wisconsin’s defense and the effort on hustle plays — the less said the better. 

As the Badgers faltered late, the cherry on top was High Point’s game-winning transition layup from Chase Johnson — a sharpshooter who had not made a single two-point bucket all season until that moment.

Wisconsin once again will play a starring role in “One Shining Moment” for all the wrong reasons.

The latest March flameout has Greg Gard under the microscope once again, and it’s understandable. I personally don’t want to move on from Gard. He’s proven to be a competent coach at a school that’s not exactly sinking a ton of resources into its men’s basketball program. He’s shown a willingness to adapt and change rather than stubbornly stick with one way of doing things, plus there are plenty of examples of coaches who had reputations as March Madness chokers who suddenly flipped the script. That’s not to say it’s a guarantee he will. It just wouldn’t at all be unprecedented.

Frankly, even if I was more in the “fire Gard” camp, I would still have no interest in making a move right now. Not a single part of me wants athletic director Chris McIntosh responsible for another big hire.

So for now, the Badgers will likely just have to stay the course and hope that their March breakthrough is just around the corner. Though it’s fair to wonder just how many more times they can expect the fanbase to put up with the same old sad song.