MADISON, Wis. — The yellow rope that appears for only the most triumphant, meaningful wins at the Kohl Center to cordon off the handshake line from an inevitable court storm unfurled just before a replay review determined there were still 0.4 seconds remaining on the game clock. Back to the sideline it went as a full-throated fan base collectively salivated for its celebratory moment against an in-state rival.

By then, Wisconsin’s basketball team was eager for a party. No. 3 Marquette was ready for its official dismissal and a humbling trip home to Milwaukee. That the final seconds of the Badgers’ 75-64 victory against the Golden Eagles were essentially insignificant said a lot about Wisconsin’s toughness and maturity during a season that certainly looks like it has much potential.

“It just shows the team that we have,” Badgers forward Tyler Wahl said. “We have the belief, and we just got the opportunity to really put it out there and put it on display.”

That belief, according to Wisconsin coach Greg Gard, is something that had to be earned through consistent performance against quality competition. During the 2014-15 season, players wore shooting shirts late in the season that read: “Make ’Em Believe.” It was a mantra that began as a joke among the players who wanted to show the nation how good they were that season because they believed so much in themselves. Of course, it never really made all that much sense because that team was coming off a Final Four appearance, had two future first-round NBA Draft picks, eventually went 36-4 and played for a national championship.

This Wisconsin team, meanwhile, entered the season coming off a massive disappointment: a missed NCAA Tournament and a 20-15 record that culminated with staggering offensive futility in an NIT semifinal loss to North Texas. But Gard said he saw something in this group during the offseason that gave him confidence in what was possible. Wisconsin returned its top five leading scorers, added more scoring punch with St. John’s transfer AJ Storr — a Big East all-freshman team performer last season — and depth with freshmen John Blackwell and Nolan Winter. A team isn’t better simply because it is older, but Gard saw the development necessary from his returners to expect marked improvement. All he had to do was convince them.

“I’ve talked to this group a lot about believing how good they can be,” Gard said. “And I think sometimes I intentionally need to feed that because they hear so much negative from the outside that I’ve got to counter the negative with a lot of positive. I think now they believe. They believe in what our coaches have been talking about and kind of the vision of what we laid out way back in the summer of what we thought this team could be and how good they could be.”

When the Badgers opened this season 1-2, there were doubts about whether this year could be any different. Gard was not pleased with his team’s defensive execution during double-digit losses to Tennessee and Providence. Those teams combined to shoot 53.6 percent from the field. Even Robert Morris shot 46.2 percent in a closer-than-expected Wisconsin victory a few days later.

But if there is an early-season turning point, Gard cited the first game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off, in which Wisconsin stifled No. 24 Virginia to 32.6 percent shooting and hammered the Cavaliers in a 65-41 victory. It represented Wisconsin’s fewest points allowed against a power-conference opponent in nine years and its fewest ever against an AP Top 25 team. The Badgers won the tournament two days later against SMU by breaking a tie with less than three minutes remaining and pulling away.

Then came Saturday. Marquette entered the game with its highest ranking since the 1977-78 season, back when the Golden Eagles were known as the Warriors. This Marquette team is tremendously talented and has national championship aspirations, which it displayed by beating Kansas by double digits at the Maui Invitational. Marquette came within four points of beating Purdue the next day.

Yet Marquette never held a lead against Wisconsin. Badgers guard Max Klesmit put on a first-half shooting display, burying five 3-pointers and scoring 21 points to help Wisconsin establish a 46-33 halftime lead. Given Marquette’s skill level, a Golden Eagles run felt inevitable. The biggest question was whether Wisconsin would be able to handle it.

Four times, Marquette (6-2) cut its deficit to one point in the second half, the last coming on Sean Jones’ layup that made the score 54-53. Wisconsin (6-2) responded with six consecutive points. Center Steven Crowl put back a short jumper that Storr air-balled, point guard Chucky Hepburn buried a turnaround jumper on a high-arching shot that swished through the net and then Crowl used good footwork after picking up his dribble to score inside. Wisconsin led 60-53 with 8:55 remaining and didn’t allow the Golden Eagles to creep back to within a one-possession game. Gard said multiple players took ownership with strong messages during timeouts.

“The team’s got so much poise I feel like this year,” Klesmit said. “When things start to get a little haywire or something starts going a little south, having a point guard like Chucky being able to reel us back in and settle us down next play if we’ve got to get a stop or let’s execute this play as best we can and run that. So just having a point guard out there that can control the game helps.”

It was a performance that highlighted the difficulty of playing Wisconsin this season because of the number of Badgers who can challenge opponents. Four Wisconsin starters — Klesmit, Crowl, Storr and Wahl — scored in double figures, with Hepburn adding nine points. During Wisconsin’s previous game, Klesmit scored three points and attempted just three field goals.

Count Marquette coach Shaka Smart as a believer. Smart praised the aggressiveness of Wisconsin, which made 24 of 28 free throws. He described Crowl and Wahl as “a load” on the glass — a big reason the Badgers won the rebounding battle 38-23. Smart said he was disappointed in his team’s performance, noting the Golden Eagles weren’t good enough in any of the three phases he monitors for success: culturally, defensively and offensively.

Smart said he told his team it had a long way to go to build championship habits. He also said Wisconsin had a lot to do with how Marquette played and cited a conversation he shared before the game with Wisconsin radio broadcaster and former Badgers player Brian Butch.

“I said Wisconsin’s a lot better than people know,” Smart said. “And I didn’t mean like here locally but around the country. A lot of experienced, tough players, a very good system, well-coached.

“I think they do a really good job of kind of mixing up their attack on the offensive end, mixing post-ups with pick-and-roll with screening off the ball, and it’s all stuff that you can’t really lock in on defending one thing. You’ve got to be ready to guard this thing and then 10 seconds later guard that thing. And then they’ve got some guys that can make some tough shots.”

Kohl Center … you BROUGHT IT❕

Let’s celebrate this one TOGETHER❕ pic.twitter.com/14zH39eFVb

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) December 2, 2023

The atmosphere inside the Kohl Center was excellent for a game the program dubbed as a White Out. Wisconsin students held up signs in the crowd that read “Marquette is a safety school,” “Get your own stadium: #Bucksin6,” and “Marquette is a high school.” When Storr drove from the left wing and threw down a dunk while drawing a foul to give Wisconsin a 65-55 lead with less than six minutes remaining, the crowd stood on its feet and roared.

That continued down the stretch, capped by a court-storming that led to a makeshift mosh pit as heavy-bass music thumped from the speakers, with Badgers players remaining on the floor to join in the fun. It marked Wisconsin’s third straight victory against Marquette, the first time that has happened by either school in more than 20 years. As Klesmit left the interview room after the game, he shouted: “Badger state.”

Wisconsin has now won five straight games. Players said they recognized that doesn’t guarantee anything. The next two come at Michigan State and at No. 2 Arizona. Wisconsin opened last season 11-2, including 3-0 in the Big Ten, before injuries and poor offense doomed the Badgers. They never won consecutive games the rest of the way.

The hope is that this team, with a veteran presence and an infusion of new blood, has the execution level it takes to sustain success deep into the season. After the way Wisconsin performed against Marquette, belief is rising.

“Sometimes you’ve got to go through those rough times to grow and get bopped around a little bit and figure some things out,” Gard said. “It doesn’t always happen overnight. I think what we’re seeing is a result of what we went through last year, and the growth that is starting to take place.

“We’ve got to keep pushing, though. We’re not where we need to be and can be. I think this team has a chance to be really good consistently at a high level. We’ve got to keep pushing the bar.”

(Photo of Max Klesmit: Mark Hoffman / USA Today)