(UW ATHLETICS) MADISON, Wis. – Greg Gard became the fourth Badger head coach to earn 200 wins, as the Wisconsin men’s basketball team warded off Ohio State, 70-68 for its sixth-straight victory.
The Badgers (14-3, 4-2 Big Ten) built up a big lead after a strong defensive first half, but endured a second half comeback attempt from the Buckeyes (10-7, 2-4 Big Ten).
Up two points with just 1.6 seconds to play, Carter Gilmore’s tight defense forced an out-of-bounds turnover on Ohio State’s inbound play, taking away any last-chance shot opportunities.
In a physical game, UW went 25-for-28 from the free throw line, including a 12-for-14 mark in the second half to keep its lead.
Steven Crowl talked about Gard getting win #200.
Crowl also talked about finding a way to win despite blowing 17-point halftime lead.
John Tonje discussed what a close win like this can do for a team.
Tonje went 10-for-10 from the free throw line for a team-high 17 points. John Blackwell scored 15 points with six rebounds. Crowl scored 14 points with seven rebounds.
OSU cut the lead to just one point with less than a minute of play remaining, after the Badgers led at half-time 37-20.
Blackwell scored the first 9 points for UW to build the lead. The Badger defense also played strong, forcing Ohio State to a 3-for-14 shooting start.
With the clock running down in the first half, Tonje stole the ball and rushed for an emphatic dunk to punctuate an 8-0 scoring run for Wisconsin.
Gard became the third-fastest coach in UW history to reach 200 wins, doing so in 210 games.
After Tuesday’s win, Wisconsin is now 14-3 on the season with a 4-2 mark in conference play. The team is on a six game winning streak, including its last four conference meetings.
Notable:
- Greg Gard won his 200th game as the head coach at Wisconsin, becoming the fourth Badger coach to reach that milestone. He is joined in the 200-win club by a trio of Naismith Hall of Famers: Walter Meanwell, Bud Foster and Bo Ryan.
- UW held Ohio State to just 20 points in the first half, matching the fewest by any opponent this season. It is also the fewest allowed in a Big Ten game since holding Illinois to 20 on 1/28/22.
- UW leads the NCAA shooting 85.4% (316-for-370) from the FT line. The Badgers are averaging 18.8 made FTs per game.
- UW has won 27 consecutive games when making at least 25 free throws dating back to the 2009-10 season.
- Crowl now has 1,303 points, 753 rebounds and 255 assists in his career, making him the fourth Badger ever and the 15th player in Big Ten history to accumulate at least 1,200 points, 750 rebounds and 250 assists since 1986-87.
- Tonje went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. He has now made 10+ FTs in four games this season, second-most in the NCAA trailing only Memphis’ PJ Haggerty (Six).
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