Wisconsin coach Greg Gard spoke to the media following the Badgers’ 23-point win over Detroit Mercy on Sunday.
Wisconsin big men Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter were the story of the contest. The two 7-footers combined for 33 points and 15 rebounds on 13-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe.
After taking a 20-point lead at the start of the second half, Gard was able to deploy a batch of his bench players to close out the contest. Carter Gilmore, Kamari McGee, Markus Ilver, Jack Janicki and Xavier Amos each logged at least 10 minutes in the 23-point triumph.
“Happy for our guys to be able to have finals week and a few days off this week,” Gard said after the win. “I thought we did a lot of good things, and it was good to go really deep off the bench for some substantial minutes. I think this will help not only these individuals, but also us collectively, because we’re going to continue to need all the help we can get. We have a long road ahead of us. »
This road includes 18 straight Big Ten games to close out the season. While wingers John Blackwell and John Tonje have played exceptionally well to start the season, the team’s defense and consistency down low will prove key to closing out the season.
“I thought the big two were good and effective,” Gard said. “We didn’t shoot well from the three, but I thought we looked really good and did a lot of good things defensively to keep the ball out of the paint for the most part. In the first half, they only had one basket at the rim. Overall, it’s a pretty professional effort.
UW spread the wealth with 22 bench points, 36 points in the paint and 13 assists. The story still revolved around Winter and Crowl. Over the last two victories, the two men have combined for 71 points and 29 rebounds.
“I always knew the potential of those two and how complete their games could be,” Gard said. “Steve, over the last two games, has done a better job of being more aggressive and intentional. Nolan has just blossomed so to speak. He’s so young in terms of where he can be and what he can do. You see his size, his skill level and his athleticism, and he has a motor. I don’t know if he realizes how much of an impact he can have. It’s our job to continue to push the bar higher for him.
Wisconsin returns to the field for a Jan. 3 showdown against the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Kohl Center.
