Wisconsin social media irate after the Badgers’ narrow loss to No. 2 Purdue
No. 6 Wisconsin basketball suffered its second loss of the week, this time at the hands of No. 2 Purdue.
The game was close throughout before several late whistles on Wisconsin defenders and a late Purdue run gave the Boilermakers a 75-69 road win.
Tyler Wahl led the way for the Badgers with likely his best game of the season — 20 points on 10 of 16 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.
Related: Power ranking all 18 Big Ten football programs after the 2023 season
But Purdue’s guard-centric attack of Braden Smith and Lance Jones gave the Badgers fits as they worked tirelessly to stop the impact of National Player of the Year candidate Zach Edey.
Wisconsin Badgers social media was irate after the loss, mostly about questionable officiating down the stretch:
Zach Edey is just tall, but very much impactful
Edey just standing in the paint is throwing off the entire Badger offense. How it goes I guess but feel lucky to be in this.
— akschaaf (@akschaaf) February 4, 2024
Greg Gard's plan for Edey was fantastic
Gard's plan against Edey has been fantastic
— Ben Kenney (@benzkenney) February 4, 2024
Bad shooting really hurt
#Badgers are 3-of-13 from 3-point range.
Have gotten some great looks and missed the ones that were momentum changers.
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) February 4, 2024
Wisconsin shot 3 fo 17 from three.
Not how you get Capone.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) February 4, 2024
People are angry about the refs
These refs. lol.
— Más Tequila (@JoRy_MaMa) February 4, 2024
At this point I'm pretty sure that if Edey pulled a handgun out on the floor, the refs would call a hand check on Klesmit.
— EricTheRed (@RealEricTheRed) February 4, 2024
Like apparently you can’t guard Zach edey without a foul being called
— Bremen Keasey (@Keasinho) February 4, 2024
Big Ten refs. dude, like what are we doing?
— William McDermott (@804derm) February 4, 2024
Lost in the loss, Tyler Wahl was fantastic
Tyler Wahl has been so damn good today.
One of his best games with the #Badgers.
18 points (9-14), 5 rebounds, 5 assists
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) February 4, 2024
Some of the late foul calls vs Edey where questionable
Zach Edey is Shaq and gets a Trae Young whistle, disgusting and embarrassing
— Grant Bilse (@WiscoGrant) February 4, 2024
— Ben Kenney (@benzkenney) February 4, 2024
Purdue's Lance Jones was the best former transfer on the court
20, 6 and 2 from Lance Jones.
Man, has he been good today for Purdue.
— Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) February 4, 2024
More about the refs
(Smith absolutely traveled there lol)
— Jack Grossman (@JackGrossman97) February 4, 2024
I'm honestly confused where that Chucky Hepburn foul is.
— Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) February 4, 2024
Did Smith step out?
Or did a bump by Hepburn cause it?
Doesn’t look like much of a bump to me. pic.twitter.com/EOBVaQOnsC
— Hunter Baumgardt (@hunterbonair) February 4, 2024
Chucky Hepburn needs to have a bigger impact
Badgers were a few plays away. it seems unfair but Chucky needs to be flawless to win those types of games and he wasn’t today
— Grant Bilse (@WiscoGrant) February 4, 2024
It wasn't only missed foul calls -- the refs also missed Purdue stepping on the baseline
I swear these refs are on the take @bigten
Total miss of a violation. Wow.— Lisa (@lmyarbro) February 4, 2024
Then there’s this. pic.twitter.com/ZP4AlTVRSy
— Hunter Baumgardt (@hunterbonair) February 4, 2024
Gard just needs to rip the refs after this game. I’ll pay his fine @bigten
— Lisa (@lmyarbro) February 4, 2024
The final two minutes took about two hours
At the rate this last minute is going, the Badgers are going to miss their Tuesday charter flight to Ann Arbor.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 4, 2024
Rebounding was like a wrestling match
We not gonna talk about Wahl getting tackled on that free throw and no call???
— Ryan (@BrewPackOnYT) February 4, 2024
Every missed shot is murder ball with guys tackling each other trying to get the board
— akschaaf (@akschaaf) February 4, 2024
The level-headed approach
That seems about right. Purdue is the better team. Can’t pull the upset when you get pounded on the offensive glass and don’t make a single three in the second half.
Can’t imagine things go any better when they play in West Lafayette so congrats to Purdue on the B1G title!
— Basketball Fan of maybe the Sixers (@drewhamm5) February 4, 2024
The video shows ... a travel
This was called a foul on Chucky Hepburn.
It appears Braden Smith shuffles his feet and flirts with stepping on the end line.
The officiating at the end of the Purdue-Wisconsin game was questionable. pic.twitter.com/WXd7VmYBTm
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) February 4, 2024
A.J. Storr needs to be better on offense
A couple big factors today. 1. Storr with about 4-5 backbreaking forced shots. In a game where you need every possession, you just can't shoot contested shots (esp. long 2's) early in the shot clock.
— Badgermaniac (@THEbadgermaniac) February 4, 2024
This was a gigantic missed opportunity for Wisconsin
Wisconsin had two attainable Quad 1 opportunities in the last four days, but didn't capitalize on either.
Hard for the Badgers to crack the one seed discussion as of today. https://t.co/iaHgLFqalI
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 4, 2024
No shame in losing to Purdue. The big one that hurts is handing Nebraska the game before.
— Badgermaniac (@THEbadgermaniac) February 4, 2024
Final Reaction
Purdue stinks. I'm mad about this one.
— akschaaf (@akschaaf) February 4, 2024
Greg Gard doesn't touch on the officiating calls that occurred in the final few minutes: Officiating isn't why we lose games. There's enough other things that will keep me up tonight.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 4, 2024
The Greg Gard haters are very excited to come out of the woodworks after 2 losses in February after being quiet all year lol.
— Max (@MadMaxMKE) February 4, 2024
Greg Gard starts off his postgame by thanking the students who camped out overnight. pic.twitter.com/fSIifhEypR
— Anderley Penwell (@anderleytv) February 4, 2024
