Wisconsin fell 72-59 to Providence last night to drop to 1-2 on the young season.
A road game at Providence is never an easy task, though the Friars did see coaching and roster turnover this offseason. It wasn’t necessarily the loss that angered many, including Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard. It was more how the loss happened.
The Badgers shot only 33.9% from the floor, 25% from three, and had no answer for the Providence offensive attack.
Wisconsin’s big men Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl, especially, had maybe the worst showing of their careers. Crowl finished with 4 points on 1/5 shooting with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 turnovers. Wahl, meanwhile, had 6 points on 3/9 shooting with 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 turnovers.
Gard did not mince words about the team’s effort after the contest:
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard was really frustrated after this #Badgers loss. Mad as I've seen him after a loss. That's not saying much (it's just four of them on my time on the beat), but Gard didn't feel like his team competed hard.
"They kicked our ass," he said.
— Michael McCleary (@MikeJMcCleary) November 15, 2023
Greg Gard is the angriest/most perturbed he's been in a long time; calls out Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl for not finishing in the paint. Says in not so many words that freshmen Nolan Winter and John Blackwell are playing harder than they are.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) November 15, 2023
Wisconsin is back home on Friday night to face Robert Morris.