How the Badgers’ Greatest Strength Became Their Kryptonite in Loss to BYU

The Badgers had an unusually rough night at the free-throw line on Saturday.

The Wisconsin Badgers faced a tough 91-89 loss to the BYU Cougars, marking an early end to their season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was a hard-fought game where the Badgers showed a lot of heart in their comeback attempt, but ultimately couldn’t finish it off in a heartbreaking loss to the Cougars.

Looking at the game, the Badgers faced several challenges. They struggled to get enough consecutive stops, didn’t shoot as well as BYU, and dug themselves too big a hole early on. However, the biggest factor may have been the difference in free-throw shooting.

Wisconsin entered the game leading the nation with an impressive 82.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line. For comparison, Villanova set the record for the best free-throw shooting season in 2021-22 with 83.0 percent.

But problems emerged early for the Badgers, who missed four free throws in the first half, finishing the period with a 7/11 mark. John Tonje missed two free throws early, and both John Blackwell and Carter Gilmore also missed one each.

Overall, they shot 79.3 percent from the line in the game, slightly lower than their season average, while BYU was nearly perfect, hitting 15/16 (93.8 percent) from the stripe, well above their average of 70.4 percent.

Wisconsin had more free-throw attempts (29) and found some success in the second half, but the significant difference in percentage compared to what was expected was crucial, considering each team’s free-throw shooting stats heading into Saturday.

In close games like Saturday’s, it’s factors like free throws that will keep Wisconsin up at night as they missed out on reaching the Sweet Sixteen for an eighth consecutive year.