Wisconsin Badgers are in a rut. There is no way around it. Wisconsin cannot seem to find itself in this 2019-2020 season. After their impressive victory against Marquette, it has been all downhill from there. Wisconsin cannot seem to score and it is obviously affecting results. Badgers lost their third straight game as they fall to NC State, 69-54. Wolfpack pulled away in the second half, and there was nothing the Badgers could do about it.

Player of the Game: Jericole Hellems – Nothing is worse than a guy breaking out against you. Jericole Hellems hadn’t started off the season strong, but that didn’t look like it was the case yesterday. Hellems played great with 23 points, four rebounds and four made three-pointers. Wisconsin could not handle Hellems on defense as he tormented Wisconsin throughout the game.

Honorable Mention: Aleem Ford – In the midst of finding a positive for Wisconsin, Aleem Ford did play pretty well last night. The Badgers forward had 13 points with seven rebounds in a good, not great effort. Ford is probably not a number one scoring option, but he could be a reliable second or third scorer. Ford needs to work on getting his shot more often in this offense though.

One Thing To Ponder – How will Wisconsin fix this offense? – I”m sure this is a question asked by Greg Gard this morning as he goes to work to get ready for Indiana this weekend. What can Wisconsin do to make this offense better? From my outside view, Wisconsin needs to look for layups, layups and more layups. The threes aren’t falling right now as they rank 277th on KenPom. Find ways to get easy buckets first and the occasional open three. I realize this goes against the new-age basketball methods, but right now, Wisconsin is costing themselves by laying bricks from deep.

Should Badgers fans panic? – Maybe. This isn’t an ideal start to the season, but Wisconsin plays in the Big Ten. That can be a good or a bad thing. Good because there are going to be endless opportunities to build their resume. Big Ten is absolutely loaded this year and likely the best conference in college basketball. Bad because there are many Big Ten teams right now that look head and shoulders above Wisconsin right now.

Next up: Wisconsin heads home for the first time in a few weeks to face Indiana. The Hoosiers have been hot to start the season and scored their first big win of the year by beating Florida State on Tuesday. This is the first true road game for the Hoosiers though, and that can be an issue. Indiana has some Kohl Center demons. They haven’t won in Madison since 1998.

Charlie.