The Badgers arrived in Portland expected to win. They were a 10.5-point favorite, led by as many as eight with five minutes left, and still found a way to lose 83-82 to High Point in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

What went wrong

Wisconsin could not finish the job. The Panthers chipped away, and Chase Johnston scored a layup with 11 seconds remaining that put High Point ahead for good. The final sequence was simple and painful.

Underneath that closing moment were familiar problems. Wisconsin was out-rebounded 40-37, and High Point owned a 13-6 edge on offensive boards. That echoes last season when Wisconsin lost to BYU after being outrebounded 41-31 and surrendering 13 offensive rebounds. Those numbers are not coincidence.

Why this matters for Greg Gard

This defeat extends Wisconsin's Sweet 16 drought to nine straight seasons under Greg Gard. It also leaves Gard 0-3 as a five-seed in the NCAA Tournament. I still think Gard is the right person to run the program, but the postseason results under his tenure are worrying and deserve a clear plan to fix them.

Three players who decided the game

  • Rob Martin

    High Point's point guard was the engine. Martin finished with 23 points and 10 assists, and he hit 4 of 10 three-point attempts. Wisconsin tried different defenders on him but he still found the rim or a deep shot when the Panthers needed one.

  • Chase Johnston

    Johnston came off the bench and scored 14 points, drilling 4 of 6 threes with a very quick release. He also drove for the game-winning layup with 11 seconds left. That make was reportedly his first made two-point field goal of the season. It is not the stat Wisconsin fans wanted to remember.

  • Nick Boyd

    Boyd did everything he could. The left-handed guard led Wisconsin with 27 points on 10 of 20 shooting. He finishes the season as the first Badger to average over 20 points per game since 1995, and his 726 points are the second-most in a single season in school history. After the game he posted a farewell message calling the season "a fun ride."

At the end of the day, this was a game Wisconsin expected to control and did not. The box score highlights a recurring issue with defensive rebounding and second-chance points. Wisconsin will have questions to answer about closing games and securing the glass if it wants to change the postseason narrative.