It was Badger fans’ greatest fear heading into the NCAA tournament.

What if the Badgers go cold?

What if the perimeter shots don’t fall? What if the open threes rim out and the mid-range jumpers clank off the iron?

Well, like most teams, when that happens the Badgers almost assuredly lose.

But for Wisconsin, perimeter shooting became the lifeblood of the offense, and for much of the year, they looked good doing it.

To win, teams have to play to their strengths. The Badgers’ strength offensively was the ability to stay patient and find an open look for one of their shooters – most often Jordan Taylor or Jon Leuer.

Against Butler in the Sweet 16, Wisconsin got those open looks.

But nothing would fall.

And that’s what we all were waiting for. We got a preview in the Big Ten Tournament when UW scored 33 points in a loss to Penn State.

We saw another glimpse in the NCAAs when Jordan Taylor was 2-of-16 from the field in a hard-fought win against Kansas State.

Then it all came crashing down against Butler in New Orleans, where we watched this:

Sixteen-straight missed field goals.

Six-straight misses at the end of the first half; 10 more to start the second.

One of the most efficient offenses in the country was totally inept.

So the nightmare scenario happened: the entire team went cold. And the Badgers lost, 61-54.

“It was just kind of one of those nights, the ball wasn’t going through the hoop,” Taylor told reporters after the game. “It’s frustrating, definitely frustrating, especially when you end your season like that.”

You see, cold perimeter shooting dooms the Badgers more than your average team.

Why? Because UW has no other proven ways to consistently score.

The 5-man, senior Keaton Nankvil, has never had a low-post game. He is a shooter in a big man’s body. If Nankivil isn’t hitting threes or long baseline jumpers, he isn’t scoring, and that means little opportunity at the foul line. The Badger big men are great free throw shooters, but neither Nankivil nor Leuer have the inside presence necessary to draw contact and pick up easy points at the stripe.

Butler’s big men (Matt Howard and Andrew Smith) had 15 combined free throw attempts. Wisconsin’s big men (Nankivil and Leuer) had just two.

And aside from Taylor, none of the guards can consistently create their own shot or penetrate the lane. So when teams are wise enough to key on Taylor, there is no other potential dribble-drive threat.

Taylor did finish with 22 points against Butler, but it came on 19 field goal attempts (10 of which were threes).

But that brings us to the team’s other star player and leading scorer – Leuer.

Like Nankivil, the 6-foot-10 forward has the height of a low-post scorer but he prefers to become a jump shooter.

Against Butler, Leuer had two good looks from the post right at the start, and he missed them both. Both shots were attempts from close range that Leuer typically makes with ease, but after those misses, Butler ratcheted up the interior defense and Leuer settled for positioning along the perimeter.

“I do think [Leuer] missed some shots that he might normally make, but I thought our guys were really, really in tune to maybe focusing on what he likes to do and trying to be as good as we can at making it as difficult as possible,” Butler head coach Brad Stevens said after the game.

So the Badgers worked the ball into the post and got two good looks on their first two possessions of the game but unfortunately came up empty. From there, the Badgers started launching the threes.

Six of the next 10 shots UW took came from long range.

As for Leuer – he finished with three points. Total. He never found a groove and the Badgers’ leading scorer became a non-factor, going 1-for-12 from the field.

Now, after going a measly 8-for-23 from the field as a team in the first 20 minutes, the Badgers knew they needed to find a way to get some high percentage buckets in the second half.

So they tried to force the ball into the paint once again.

Three of the Badgers’ first four misses of the second half come from close range. But the shots just wouldn’t fall as the Bulldogs seized control. So once again, it was time to launch the perimeter jumpers.

“You can’t do anything other than keep attacking, and if you can’t attack and they’re shutting that down then you’ve got to hit some shots from the outside,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said after the game.

The Badgers made a furious comeback thanks to an effective full-court press that forced some turnovers, but there was just too much ground to make up. UW cut the lead to four, but the Bulldogs pulled away in the closing stages.

Had UW put forth even an average shooting performance, the Badgers could have very well won that game against a Butler team that was far from perfect.

But that just wasn’t the case Thursday night.

When it was all over, UW went 17-for-56 from the field and 7-for-29 from beyond the arc. The shooting woes continued at the foul line, where the Badgers were just 13-of-19.

“On the shot chart I liked the shots that we had, and you play X number of games, seven or eight times out of 10, you’re going to shoot a lot better percentage than that,” Ryan said.

Unfortunately for the Badgers, the cold night they hoped to avoid ultimately came.

And thanks to a largely one-dimensional offense, their season is over because of it.

Max is a senior majoring in journalism. Disappointed with the way the Badgers’ season ended? Think UW had the talent to make a deeper NCAA tourney run? Let him know at [email protected]