Badgers struggling to finish against ranked opponents

MADISON – Wisconsin coach Greg Gard looked at the difficult early schedule and, knowing he returned one starter and a roster laden with unknowns, anticipated growth might come at a cost.

That cost through five games: losses to three top-25 teams.

As a result, UW (2-3) desperately needs a victory when it hosts UW-Milwaukee (4-1) at 8 p.m. Friday.

“It’s hard to swallow now because they are competitive guys,” Gard said after UW suffered a 72-70 loss to No. 23 UCLA in the consolation game of the Hall of Fame Classic on Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo. “They expect to win now, and so do I.

“They want it yesterday and so do I, meaning we want to be where we are going to be now. 

“But we understand there’s a lot of areas we’ve got to continue to grow in.”

Finish what you started.

UW held a 66-64 lead over then-No. 17 Xavier on a jumper by D’Mitrik Trice with 2 minutes, 44 seconds left.

The Musketeers responded with a 12-0 run as UW missed four consecutive shots and went on to an 80-70 victory. 

UW trailed No. 24 Baylor by 19 points in the second half but pulled within 57-55 on a lay-in by Ethan Happ with 2:15 left. 

Guard Manu Lecomte then drew a foul on Khalil Iverson while attempting a three-pointer. Lecomte made all three free throws, Iverson missed a dunk, Lecomte drew a foul on Brad Davison and hit both free throws for a 62-55 lead with 1:18 left. The Bears held on for a 70-65 victory.

UW held a 65-59 lead over UCLA when Davison hit two free throws with 3:52 left. 

Guard Aaron Holiday led a UCLA comeback, while UW turned the ball over three times and scored just five points on its final eight possessions.

The early trend is clear: UW doesn’t have enough players at this point who are comfortable enough and/or experienced enough to make critical plays down the stretch. 

“Down the stretch possessions get magnified,” said Davison, who had a key turnover against UCLA but was otherwise magnificent. “But I think there’s a lot of times in that game we had chances to put them away and we didn’t, like the end of the first and the start of the second half. 

“The biggest thing is we’ve got to buy into the team aspect and we’ve got to put 40 minutes together.

“You’ve got to find a way to finish games but you can take care of that way earlier in the game.”

How quickly can this team learn to finish games? 

After hosting UWM, the Badgers play Monday at Virginia.

After facing the defensive-minded Cavaliers, UW opens Big Ten play Dec. 2 against visiting Ohio State. 

UW has little time but to mature quickly. 

“As long as we continue to approach it the right way, and the guys have the right mindset,” Gard said, “we will learn from this. We already have. 

“We are a better team in the last three games. We have just played some really good teams. Strength of schedule won’t be an issue with this group, we just have to mature and find a way to get over the hump.”