Greg Gard raves about Wisconsin mindset which led to win vs. Purdue

The Wisconsin Badgers have quietly been one of the best teams in the Big Ten this season. They’re not particularly quiet anymore, though, as head coach Greg Gard led the Badgers into West Lafayette, Indiana on Saturday and took down the Purdue Boilermakers.

After the game, Gard praised his team. In particular, he raved about the mindset that Wisconsin has had that led to the win against Purdue.

“They’re just extremely confident,” Greg Gard said. “They know collectively they’re a really good team and obviously we got major star power too in some guys. Just how they rallied together.”

It was an emotionally charged game for Wisconsin. One key moment ended up being the Kamari McGee ejection, which saw McGee tossed for fighting through a screen and hitting a Boilermaker in the groin. His argument that the contact was incidental ultimately didn’t matter. Still, Wisconsin was able to rally and come together in the win.

“I think McGee getting the ejection actually threw gas, more gas on our fire, and really united us. I probably talk less in these huddles today than I have all year,” Gard said. “Because they were so engaged and so instrumental and instructive with what they wanted to do and what they thought was working on both ends of the floor. So, like I said, I’m just really happy for them because they bonded together. In this day and age, as you’ve heard me talk about, from a coaching standpoint, is always a question mark of how in the transient nature of of college athletics and rosters. But this group has committed to each other and committed to being the best team they can be.”

In the end, Wisconsin won the game 94-84. That was largely on the back of an excellent second-half effort on the offensive end. That saw the team shoot 61.5 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range. Add to that only committing three turnovers and it was an excellent offensive effort.

With the win, Gard has Wisconsin sitting at 20-5 overall and 10-4 in Big Ten play. That’s good for fourth in the current conference standings, now just a half game behind Purdue. They’re also just two games behind the Michigan Wolverines, who are in first place. With six games remaining this season and momentum from a four-game winning streak, the Badgers want to make their move now.

Next up for Wisconsin, they’ll return home to play host to a tough Illinois Fighting Illini team.