What can the Badgers take away from their tumultuous 2022 season?

Mar 10, 2023 - 7:40 PM

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The Wisconsin Badgers lost 65-57 to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the play-in game of the Big 10 Tournament, failing to add to their resume as an on-the-bubble team for the NCAA postseason, which likely ends their 2022 season.

The main story of the Badgers over what was supposed to be a “rebuilding” year was the inconsistencies that they just couldn't overcome, be it within games or trends that sustained over the second half of the season, such as the failure to win two consecutive games since January 3rd.

However, there are still valuable takeaways that the Badgers can have for their young unit, which should return almost its entire roster in 2023.

Head coach Greg Gard acknowledged the hardships that his group faced all season, adding the importance of utilizing those lessons to grow.

“There’s been a lot of lessons that haven’t been pleasant to go through that these guys have experienced that that’s what I talked about afterwards, that we have to be able to use these to our advantage no matter what happens the rest of this year and spinning forward,” Gard said after Wisconsin’s loss to Ohio State.

The Badgers certainly will need to improve next season on those inconsistencies, but Gard noted how that’s a theme of younger teams, which could help them in experience next year.

“We obviously have maturing to do in some of these areas, and we’ve seen that. I think that’s the one thing with younger teams is the inconsistency, and we sometimes we change colors right within a game.”

Referencing the Ohio State game, Gard was impressed by the resiliency in the second half after an abysmal start to the game, which was the lone good takeaway from Wisconsin’s loss.

“Today’s a good example of being put on our heels in the first half and then getting back to who we need to be and who we need to be good in the second half. So that’s always a challenge with a younger group to have them understand that and always approach it that way, and it usually comes more natural and more consistent with older guys.”

How do the Badgers grow from this point? Gard pointed at himself and his staff as those who need to help absolve the inconsistencies, while continuing to grow leadership in the program.

“So that’s something we’ve got to continue — I’ve got to help them with it, and leadership has to grow organically within. There’s a lot of hurtful lessons this year that we’ve had to go through that have stung that we have to bottle and use to our advantage.”

The Badgers could see an invitation to the NIT tournament, which could prolong their season and give some experience to their younger players, although Gard was non-committal on whether he’d accept the invite following the loss to the Buckeyes.