Wisconsin coach Greg Gard: ‘We feel we should be 7-1 in [Big Ten play], we’re not’

Greg Gard and the Wisconsin Badgers are in a comfortable position: Approaching the top of the Big Ten standings after entering the year with tempered expectations.

That reality feels like a near-annual occurrence in this iteration of the Gard era with the program.

Related: Updated game-by-game predictions for Wisconsin basketball after UCLA loss

Wisconsin’s preseason outlook, remember, was a 12th-place finish in the new 18-team Big Ten. The Badgers have already proven that outlook wrong with a 15-4 (5-3 Big Ten) start to the season and a No. 18 ranking in the current AP Poll. Predictive metrics back that up — Wisconsin ranks No. 22 in KenPom and No. 26 in the ESPN BPI.

The team was even at 15-3 (5-2 Big Ten) before a recent two-point road loss at UCLA ended its seven-game win streak. In Gard’s words, that narrow loss shows the night-in, night-out challenge presented by the new conference landscape.

“You see every night in this league, it’s very competitive,” Gard told the media on Friday. “You’re going to have some really good times, and you can’t get enamored with those, and you’re going to take one on the chin here or there and you can’t get overwhelmed with that.”

Two of the times Wisconsin ‘took it on the chin’ in conference play came by a combined margin of five points (85-83 to UCLA and 67-64 to Michigan. Wisconsin had chances at game-tying baskets in the final seconds of each matchup. John Blackwell failed to convert against the Bruins, while Max Klesmit missed multiple final-minute three-pointers against the Wolverines.

Gard reinforced his confidence in his team’s form, especially given the nature of those two defeats.

“I thought they were in a good spot [against UCLA],” Gard continued. “They’re upset. They know we didn’t play up to our ability, specifically defensively. And I think, quite frankly, we feel we should be 7-1 right now in the league. We’re not. So we’ve got to make sure, as we see, every opponent is a new challenge…But I like how they’ve always responded. They responded really well through that stretch in December that we had.”

The next response must begin on Sunday afternoon against former Badger Connor Essegian and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Nebraska enters at 12-7 (2-6 Big Ten), riding a five-game losing streak in conference play.

Wisconsin is just 2 1/2 games behind first-place Michigan State (16-2, 7-0 Big Ten) in the conference standings entering the weekend. The Badgers are two bounces of the basketball away from that total sitting at just 1/2, as Gard mentioned.

Tip off from the Kohl Center is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, noon CT. Wisconsin enters as the prohibitive favorite to add to its growing conference win total.

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Story originally appeared on Badgers Wire