Wisconsin Basketball vs. Marquette Takeaways, Recap, and Notebook

The Badgers coughed-up the ball and the lead early in the second half inside Fiserv Forum

Milwaukee, WI - Gross game. Not one that should set off a five-alarm fire in Madison by any means, but an unwelcome pattern is rearing its head again for Wisconsin basketball.

Amidst the Badgers offensive renaissance, head coach Greg Gard has not yet found a way to get his team to play effective defense for 40 minutes in these uptempo matchups. Yes, the defense has taken a step back overall the past two seasons, but it clearly suffers more against teams that can push the pace.

Michigan pushed the pace and caught Wisconsin slacking in transition earlier this week. Marquette beat Wisconsin not just by getting out and running in transition, but also by speeding up UW’s offensive possessions with relentless ball pressure (something Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart’s defense is simply elite at). It’s becoming a problem.

It is not like Wisconsin has a get-right game coming up next either. Up next for the Badgers is the Illinois Fighting Illini - which Wisconsin has not beaten since 2019 and is an outfit under head coach Brad Underwood that loves to play uptempo.

With lackluster performances stacking up for Gard’s frontcourt, it will be fascinating to see what happens next.

For more takeaways on this top-15 matchup between Wisconsin and Marquette, click here for my story for Athlon Sports. It has my instant reactions from Fiserv Forum, post-game quotes from Greg Gard and John Blackwell, and more.

For premium subscribers, below is my full notebook from the game. It includes a few more granular takeaways from the game, along with brief thoughts on Shaka Smart.