Biggest takeaways from No.23 Wisconsin Badgers 98-70 blowout loss to No.9 BYU Cougars

It was crystal clear what the first true test was going to be in the University of Wisconsin's 2025-26 season.

Starting the season at home against four mid-major opponents, three of which had losing records, was more about building chemistry and synergy with virtually a brand-new group. However, playing a game in Utah against a nationally-ranked BYU team was going to teach the Badgers a lot about what kind of team they have.

After 40 minutes of mostly ugly basketball, the lessons are going to be tough pills to swallow.

No.23 Wisconsin found itself behind from the start and unable to catch up in large part to shoddy defense and the inability to hit open shots against a bigger, stronger, and, as of right now, more talented Cougars team.

"There's a lot of things that are going to have to be fixed," head coach Greg Gard said following a 98-70 loss at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Gard knew the Badgers were going to get exposed whether or not they won or lost, but getting beaten as soundly as they did by the ninth-ranked team in the country was likely not on his radar.

The margin of victory is the worst for Wisconsin in a Gard era that spans 335 games, saved only because guard Braeden Carrington hit a meaningful three-pointer at the buzzer.

The only saving grace is that unlike the last time these two teams played, the Badgers have a lot of games left to correct their bevy of mistakes.

Here are my takeaways.

Recap: The first true test of Wisconsin's season ties the most lopsided loss of the Greg Gard era, as not much went right for the 23rd-ranked #Badgers in a 98-70 loss to No.9 BYU in Salt Lake Cityhttps://t.co/CfGxSd02F5
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) November 21, 2025

The Badgers never responded

It would a herculean defensive effort if BYU never made an offensive run. After all, the trio of Robert Wright III, AJ Dybantsa and Richie Saunders rank in the 87th percentile in +/- when on the floor together and have scored 68 percent of BYU's points. Swap out Dybantsa for guard Dawson Baker and that trio rank in the 97th percentile in offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) at 149.6 and efficient field goal percentage at 69.4 percent.

All those numbers are going to go up after BYU's offensive onslaught.

The Cougars averaged 1.380 points per possession and were efficient from two-point range (17-for-31), three-point range (14-for-34), and from the foul line (22-for-29). Not surprisingly, the trio of Dybantsa, Saunders, and Wright combined for 54 points, 16 rebounds, 15 assists, and five turnovers, all having plus-minus ratios over 22.

"I didn't like how we responded from a toughness standpoint," Gard said. "We got out of character. We did some undisciplined things on both ends of the floor."

Those issues were on display from the start. The Badgers fouled too much, especially jump shooters. Wisconsin did a decent job on Dybantsa, holding him to 3-for-8 from the floor, but put him on the line 12 times and watch the 65.2 percent foul shooter hit 11 free throws.

The foul trouble took away Wisconsin's aggressiveness on offense, too. The Badgers made consecutive shots once in the first 12+ minutes and didn't get points on three straight possessions until there was 5:15 remaining in the half.

"I thought we got out of character of who we needed to be and who we have been and who we are going to have to be going forward," Gard said. "We can't fray and get off the track if we have a possession or two or three that go wrong."

The misses took its toll beause BYU could get out and push. While Wisconsin was struggling to put the ball in the basket, BYU scored on 20 of its 35 first-half possessions and never went more than 2:12 of game time without scoring, helping them put together runs of 13-0, 7-0, and 7-0.

"It was one step forward, two steps back," said junior Nolan Winter, as Wisconsin's defensive efficiency ranked dropped from 31 to 58. "We brought (the physicality) for a little bit, then they go on a little run and we go and shell up a little bit. If shots go in, that's one thing and we look really go. If shots don't, we can't shell up and be mentally weak."

Wisconsin didn't have players do the little things

Although he built the team to shoot threes at high volume, Gard knew the Badgers had to put pressure on BYU's defense at the rim and not be three-point dependent. Not only did Wisconsin not attack enough, but the Badgers also didn't come away much when they did.

The most brazen example was Austin Rapp missing an uncontested one-footer early in the first half. Rapp was a volume three-point shooter as a freshman at Portland, attempting 69.4 percent of his shots from behind the arc, and developing more of a low-post presence was one of his priorities with Wisconsin.

Rapp was 7-for-12 on twos through the first four games, dropping his perimeter shooting percentage down to 64.7, but he connected on nothing against BYU. Not only did he go 0-for-7 overall and 0-for-5 from three, Rapp didn't collect a rebound in 27 minutes on the floor.

"If you have a level of toughness about you, you'll find a way to make shots, you'll find a way to get stops, a way to clean up the defensive glass," Gard said, not directly referencing Rapp. "Those things we didn't do consistently enough. That's something we're going to have to get a lot better at."

He wasn't the only one who struggled, as the three freshmen in Wisconsin's rotation - guard Hayden Jones, forward Aleksas Bieliauskas, and center WIll Garlock - combined for no points on one shot, four fouls and three turnovers in 23 minutes.

"I thought the freshmen looked like freshmen," Gard said. "They had the look in their eye like this is the first one of these and that's to be expected. We've had that before. It's a good opportunity for them from the standpoint of now, all right, you've had the first taste of this, what's it's like. We can tell them, we can show them, but now they have the experience of physical guys are, how big guys are, how much faster the game even is."

The disparity between Wisconsin's youth and BYU's experience was evident, especially with Saunders. Naturally drawing the defense's attention because of his scoring prowess, Saunders impacted the game with offensive rebounds, steals, and heads-up plays that made Wisconsin look lackadaisical.

"I think he was just playing harder than all five on the court at all times," Winter said of Saunders, "and that really exposed us defensively."

How will Wisconsin respond?

Winter has had this feeling before. As a freshman almost two years ago, Winter was part of a 25-point dismantling at No.1 Arizona. The Badgers - also ranked No.23 at the time - gave up a 25-8 run to end the first half and let the hosts shoot 58.3 percent from the field.

UW had a lot of veterans on that team to set the tone for the remainder of the season, which ended with the Badgers advance to the Big Ten Tournament title game, and Winter plans to use that group's messaging now that he's one of the veterans on the roster.

"You can't turn your backs on one another, you can't make this about yourself and start going, ok, I've got to do all this," Winter said. "You got to play as a team and being in the Big Ten, you're not going to get a night off. It's every night you have got to bring that mental, physical toughness or you're going to lose by 30."

Wisconsin will practice in Utah tomorrow and fly to San Diego on Sunday to begin preparations for the Rady Children's Invitational. UW starts with Providence, a team that has manhandled the Badgers in the two previous meetings (2021 and 2023) because of its toughness.

"We're going to learn a lot from this," Gard said. "What we have to fix, there's technical things, but how we respond from a mental standpoint and grow. We have to get better. That's why you play these type of games against these types of teams. We have a lot more coming in terms of high-level games. We need to take all the lessons from this, good and bad, and there were a lot of bad ones, and learn from them and grow."

Film can only fix so much, according to Winter, who said toughness has to come from within each player moving forward.

"I love this team," he said, "but we've got to take it upon ourselves and really reflect and regroup as a team."

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