Greg Gard Opens Up About How Wisconsin Lost to High Point

Wisconsin basketball's 83-82 loss to High Point in the Round of 64 in the 2026 NCAA Tournament was as shocking a loss as any in recent program history.

The Badgers waltzed into March Madness boasting star power, veteran leadership, experience and an offense that had proven it could go toe-to-toe with any in the country.

Seemingly dozens of reputable outlets salivated over a potential Arkansas-Wisconsin matchup in the second round. While the Badgers were certainly on upset watch as a favorite in the 5-seed versus 12-seed game, it was a bewildering loss for a Wisconsin team that had bested five straight AP Top-15 opponents during the regular season.

Appearing on Mike Heller's I Love Mondays podcast, head coach Greg Gard addressed the elephant in the room: the crushing loss to High Point that cut Wisconsin's season short.

Heller asked if the Badgers fell apart, or if the Panthers themselves simply played astounding. Gard was adamant:

High Point Panthers center Youssouf Singare (24) embraces Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2). | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

“There’s no doubt in that specific instance, in that game, they beat us. I felt they did. Between the threes they made, some other plays and some of the shots we didn’t make," he said.

"I know everyone on the outside gets caught up on what the name on the front of the jersey says. When you look at rosters, the age of guys, where they’ve been, those kinds of things. When you’ve got a team that’s won 31 games, they’ve obviously had a terrific year and were a very experienced group too. You see a lot of that, I think you just get caught in the name on the jersey. ‘If it’s a name we don’t recognize, they can’t be very good,’ or ‘Why is this team losing to that team,'" he continued.

Gard went on to lament a specific area in which his team was lacking throughout the entire 2025-26 campaign:

"This group, for me, we were never where we needed to be defensively. We’ve had some really good defensive teams; this was not one of them. This group, really from a personality standpoint and identity standpoint, hung their hat on the offensive end.”

Gard's notion that the Panthers are also simply a good team themselves holds some water as well. After toppling Wisconsin, they proceeded to take Arkansas down to the wire, narrowly falling 94-88 to the Hogs.

Still, no matter how you slice it, this was a brutal, crushing loss for Wisconsin regardless of whether or not High Point was better than folks gave them credit for.

One final thought: could Gard lamenting the Badgers' defensive performance last season inform their upcoming transfer portal strategy? It wouldn't be surprising to see Wisconsin target skilled defenders in the portal after the way the season ended.