Greg Gard defends referee decision to eject Kamari McGee given rules

Wisconsin guard Kamari McGee was controversially ejected from the Badgers’ 94-84 victory over Purdue on the road Saturday, and head coach Greg Gard is defending the official’s decision.

During the first half, McGee collided with Boilermakers forward Trey Kaufman-Renn. Kaufman-Renn was setting a screen for his teammate when the incident happened. The Boilermaker was hit in the groin area by McGee when he was trying to slip past the screen.

Whether inadvertent or not, he was tossed from the game. Gard explained his perspective on the play during Wisconsin’s postgame press conference.

“[The officials] had no choice. I haven’t seen the video, and I didn’t look at it at halftime. I haven’t even seen the board or anything, I was having more conversations about what had happened on the previous end,” Gard said of the ejection. “I thought that our guys were bowling pins, getting knocked around over there. But, it’s within the rules, and it is a really hard game for any crew- that is why we had a really strong crew on this game.

“It’s a hard job to do, and, I thought that when they gave me the explanation, that is the letter of the law. Not really up for debate, so, we needed to move on and keep playing. We had a lot of basketball left, and we didn’t need to dwell on that.”

The ejection was a frustrating one for McGee and the Badgers at the time, as he has been a prime contributor off the bench for Wisconsin throughout the season. He’s averaging 7.2 points per game at the moment, his highest mark yet over his three-year tenure with the Badgers.

However, McGee’s teammates rose to the occasion with him in the locker room. It would eventually be the play of John Tonje who made the biggest contribution on the night, scoring a game-high 32 points including four made 3-point shows. He made 10 field goals during the effort, and logged six rebounds and three assists to put his fingerprints all over the Wisconsin victory.

Four other Badgers scored in double figures as Wisconsin improved to 20-5 (10-4, Big Ten) on the season and have won each of their last four games in conference play.

Next up for Wisconsin is a homestand against Illinois on Tuesday night. The Fighting Illini won the first matchup in Champaign 86-80 on Dec. 10.

Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET and will air live on FS1.