Badgers season woes come full circle in NIT semifinal loss to North Texas

Mar 29, 2023 - 1:27 AM

Wisconsin" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BN2K46EYt4BBFSkR88LiKBmuOWY=/0x300:5751x3535/1920x1080/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72125407/usa_today_20336694.0.jpg" />

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

And I believe the Badgers want memories of this game to forever stay in Vegas.

The Wisconsin Badgers fell to the North Texas Mean Green in the semifinals of the NIT on Tuesday night, losing 56-54.

After a near-perfect first half, the Badgers stunk up the second half and put together an embarrassing display of basketball.

Similar to the regular season, the Badgers had a hot first half and an abysmal second half.

In their biggest game of the season, the Badgers jumped off to a quick start offensively and were able to maintain that level of scoring throughout the half.

Chucky Hepburn knocked down 5 threes in the first half and Tyler Wahl scored 10 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in a brilliant first half for the Badgers.

After 20 minutes of play, the Badgers maintained a steady lead and held a 41-29 advantage at the half.

However, the fun stopped there.

The Mean Green quickly put themselves back into the game and cut the lead down to 47-42 within the next 7 minutes.

With just 5 minutes remaining, North Texas had stormed back and cut the game down to 54-52.

The Badgers would end the game without scoring a single point in the final 9:07 of the half.

It seemed as if the Badgers were allergic to scoring points as they put together one of the most embarrassing offensive performances in all of college basketball.

The team was outplayed while getting outscored 27-13 in the half.

It seemed as if the Badgers had the game under control after scoring 41 points on one of the best defenses in the country. Yet, all went away at halftime and the game came to quite a disappointing finish for Wisconsin.

North Texas led just one time throughout the game after taking a 56-54 lead with 2:08 remaining in the game. Neither team managed to score from there.

North Texas can now continue its streak of not allowing an opponent to score 60 points in the NIT.

After Chucky Hepburn’s fantastic first half, he failed to score a point in the second half and finished with 15 points on the night.

Tyler Wahl finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds while Steven Crowl finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Connor Essegian’s struggles from deep continued as he finished just 2-7 from three for a total of 12 points. His struggles included an airball on a three-point attempt with 2:30 remaining in the game.

The Badgers basketball season has come to a close in the worst possible way. After putting together an extremely pleasing first half, all came crashing back down just moments later and their hopes of an NIT championship faded away.

It isn't clear whether Greg Gard should receive heavy criticism for the Badgers' inability to score in the second half, however, it is completely unacceptable to struggle this badly in a game with such great importance.

The Badgers will now look ahead toward the offseason and recharge for the 2023 regular season.