It was a night to forget for Greg Gard and the Wisconsin Basketball team as they fell victim to a 43-6 run (yes, 43-6) and lost to the Michigan Wolverines 77-54.
If there was ever a “burn the tape game,” I think that’s what it would look like.
Related: Wisconsin basketball’s game-by-game win probabilities for the remainder of the season
After the game, Michigan head coach Juwan Howard spoke about his team’s win and how much respect he has for this Wisconsin team and the Wisconsin program as a whole.
He first noted the Badgers’ defensive prowess and how concerned he was about his team’s offensive efficiency coming into the game.
“Wisconsin is such a great defensive team, one of the leading efficient teams, not only just in the league but in college basketball,” Howard said. “They do a great job of packing the paint, not allowing drives, and one of key things that we talked about as a team is just making a simple play and not trying to make the home run play.”
It is worth noting that many of the questions, understandably, addressed his Michigan team and their trajectory now sitting at 11-0 and 6-0 in the Big Ten.
He was asked, however, about his postgame conversation with Gard.
Here was his response:
“Greg is a guy who I respect a ton, like I do all — every coach in this Big Ten, because they all are great coaches. Got a chance to know Greg a little bit from the times when we had Zoom calls. They were once a week at times with all the Big Ten head coaches. There were times we had Zoom calls twice a week. But we all are on the front lines, trying to keep our players’ health and safety No. 1. And we all know how challenging it is to have a basketball season while the pandemic is happening. And it’s not easy. And Greg, like myself, we lose sleep. And we have those sleep disturbance while you’re trying to take a nap and lay your head on the pillow, but you may have not just Xs and Os you’re concerned with, you’re concerned with your players’ health. And I know how pure he is and so our conversation and relationship that we’ve grown to have at such and early moment, I have a ton of respect for Greg.”
The Badgers and Wolverines are set to square off again on February 14 at the Kohl Center, though Gard and his team have some business to address first, that which starts on Friday when they visit Rutgers.
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