Entering Saturday, Wisconsin basketball was one of the hottest teams in the nation. For most of the day in Madison, the Badgers looked the part as they picked apart Oregon in front of their home fans.
Unfortunately for head coach Greg Gard and company, they could only put together that dominant performance for 35 minutes instead of 40. In the final five minutes of regulation, the Ducks erased a double-digit deficit with a shocking 16-2 run and sent the game to overtime on a deep 3 by Jackson Shelstead. Oregon rolled that momentum into the overtime period and walked out of the Kohl Center with a stunning 77-73 win.
After the game, Gard highlighted two major decisions late in the game that ended up going the wrong way for his team and allowed Oregon to climb back in it. The first one was on the final 3-pointer by Shelstead, when Wisconsin opted not to foul. Gard said that he had his team discussed the idea, but eventually opted against it according to Nick Osen of 247 Sports.
“With 18 seconds left, we were talking about it, but he basically pulled it from the logo,” Gard said, per Osen. “John [Tonje] needs to be into him a little bit more, and we talked about if that same situation happened, it is a little bit early to do with 18. We talked about it a little bit briefly at 27, but, credit Shelstad for making that. I’ve seen him make that 10 times if he has made it once on film.”
Traditionally, fouling up by three is more effective if done in the final six to eight seconds than it is with 18 seconds left, but is still something that Wisconsin could have done to avoid Shelstead tying it on that possession.
After Shelstead made that 3, Gard also elected not to call a timeout with a chance to win the game. Instead, Max Klesmit settled for a stepback jumper that fell short.
“Yeah, we were coming downhill,” Gard said about not calling the timeout. “They’re a team that has a tendency to change defense out of timeouts, trap out of timeouts, and with a tie game, I was gonna let it play out. Also, we are not in the bonus.
“So, if they get a chance to reset and then use fouls, I don’t want them to get that timeout to talk about that stuff. So, a combination of things is why I decided not to do it.”
Oregon was still able to get the stop and then win it in overtime on the back of Shelstead and Nate Bittle. This Wisconsin basketball team is battling for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament right now, so this loss will sting as the regular season winds down in the Big Ten.
The post Wisconsin’s Greg Gard explains 2 decisions that backfired in collapse vs. Oregon appeared first on ClutchPoints.
