Greg Gard breaks down key to Wisconsin outlasting Purdue in Big Ten Tournament

Wisconsin rallied past Purdue in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday, getting a bucket from Max Klesmit with just a few seconds left in overtime to secure a 76-75 win.

After the victory, Badgers coach Greg Gard spoke with CBS about his team’s performance and the keys to Wisconsin finding a way to knock off the Boilermakers.

“I’ll tell you what, these guys down the stretch executed to perfection,” Gard said. “[Chucky Hepburn’s] play at the end of regulation to get to the rim off a side out of bounds. Max [Klesmit] coming off a little hammer action. Just players make plays and these guys have been phenomenal.”

It was a back and forth game all afternoon, with neither team holding a lead of bigger than six points.

The Boilermakers led by two in the final seconds of regulation when Chucky Hepburn got to the rim and made a layup to send the game to overtime.

Purdue held a one-point lead in overtime, before Klesmit’s late bucket. Lance Jones shot a desperation 3-pointer for Purdue at the buzzer, but his shot was off the mark.

Prior to Klesmit’s basket, Hepburn drew a charge on Purdue point guard Braden Smith to get the Badgers the ball back with a chance to take the lead.

“Braden Smith is a good point guard, so I watched a lot of film on him, just trying to see what his go-to moves are,” Hepburn said. “I was able to study a lot last night. I beat him to his spot and I got the offensive foul call. So good call. And Max Klesmit made a play down on the other end.”

With the loss, Purdue now awaits Selection Sunday. The Boilermakers are still expected to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin advances to the Big Ten Championship game with the win. The Badgers will face the winner of Illinois and Nebraska on Sunday.

“We’re playing really well. We’ve got all our pieces and they’re clicking,” Gard said. “They’re picking each other up. We fouled three guys out and kept rolling guys in. We’ve got 6-2 guys playing the 4. It’s an awesome team.”

Purdue star Zach Edey had a big game in the loss. The reigning National Player of the Year had 29 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes. However, the Boilermakers made just 5 of their 16 3-point attempts. Edey was the only Purdue player to score in double figures.