Greg Gard analyzes how Wisconsin shut down Boo Buie

It usually takes a team effort on defense to slow down an exceptional opponent on offense. However, when it came to how No. 15 Wisconsin stifled Northwestern G Boo Buie, Greg Gard gave a ton of the credit to Badger G Chucky Hepburn.

Gard assessed his team’s defense on Buie, one of the Big Ten’s best players, following the 71-63 win for Wisconsin on Saturday. In doing so, he applauded the effort by Hepburn, his junior guard, for making it a long game for Buie, specifically in the second half.

“Chucky’s work on him? He made him work every possession,” said Gard. “He was picking him up, he was denying him the ball at times when he did give it up.”

“I think the one time when he got loose? I think we did a switch that we shouldn’t have in the second half. I’ll go through the tape and I’m sure I’ll find a few things,” Gard continued. “But he just constantly kept pressure on him, was constantly with him, and making him really have to work to get shots.”

In a full 40 minutes in Madison, Buie still finished with a team-high of 22 points. He did so on 7-16 (43.8%) from the field and 3-7 (42.9%) from three to go with a pair of assists, a pair of steals, and a single board.

Still, most of that came in the first half. Over the first half, Buie scored 15 of his points on 5-7 (71.4%) shooting overall. Then, over the final half when the game was in the balance inside the Kohl Center, he scored just seven points on 2-9 (22.2%) from the field. He didn’t hit a field goal over the final 14:30 of the game and didn’t score again over the final 8:50.

Hepburn didn’t do much on the offensive end in his 36 minutes of action. Even so, his work defensively, including three steals, were a major part of the performance that got the Badgers their 13th win and that extended their undefeated start in conference play.

“Like I said, that’s a credit to Chucky for making that commitment,” said Gard

“We knew we were going to have our hands full with him, with Buie,” Gard said. “It was going to take a tremendous effort which Chucky gave us.”

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With Gard’s squad hitting their stride in mid-January, he wanted to make sure their heads weren’t getting too big after an undefeated start to conference play.

“Don’t let success change you,” Gard said that he told his players postgame. “How we prepare, how we approach off days. How will they utilize this afternoon tonight and tomorrow? All those things go into how you make sure you stay the course. I’ve used a lot of quotes and different things. Yesterday, I went on a rant about Nick Saban. Just how his messaging over the years — I’ve always felt was spot on.”

“I told them yesterday – it’s not easy. It should be hard and it has to be hard. You don’t have a lot of choices. That’s one of Nick’s sayings — you really don’t have a choice. How good do you want to be? And are you willing to commit, stay disciplined, and focus on that path? And, if you have a little success, you can’t change what got you there.”

In essence, Gard wants his players to do more of whatever got his team to this point.

“The older guys are hungry for more but they understand that the experiences on the court from last year have helped us. But, also, have a feeling of unfulfillment from last year like we have something to prove,” Gard said. “That’s the edge I want them to keep. I want them to have an edge.”