Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard addressed the media following the Badgers’ 87-84 win over UT Rio Grande Valley on Monday.
Facing a unique matchup situation, Gard was forced to experiment with his rotations throughout the contest. The Vaqueros’ 6-foot-8 forward Hasan Abdul Hakim was the team’s most utilized big man on the scouting report, and Gard countered with forward Carter Gilmore defensively instead of center Nolan Winter.
Gard anticipated that before the game.
“It’s what you fear when you watch them on tape,” Gard said. “How difficult they can be to guard if they get the three going, specifically from the five position that was going to create some match up problems and force us to play smaller.”
After falling behind by as many as seven points in the second half, UW rallied to take its first lead near the midway point of the frame. With major scoring contributions from John Tonje, John Blackwell and Max Klesmit, UW bullied its way inside to counter what the Vaqueros were attempting to do from beyond the arc.
“[In] the second half, we were better,” Gard said. “Obviously the smaller lineup helped with that. We were able to find a way when we were not at our best.. good teams find a way when things aren’t always clicking and things become unorthodox. We’ll learn from it and keep getting better.”
No player was more impact than sophomore guard John Blackwell, The Michigan native scored a career-best 30 points off 11-of-18 from the field and snagged seven rebounds in the process.
“He got downhill,” Gard said. “I thought he was in the paint, playing off two feet and got to the free throw line. [He] took advantage of opportunities… Offensively, he put us on his back there for a while in the second half… he has a DNA of making winning plays.”
The No. 19-ranked Badgers improve to 5-0 with the victory. They will be back in action for their first road test of the season at the Greenbrier Tip-Off against UCF on Nov. 22.
