Wisconsin Keeps Focus on the Court Midst Handshake Fallout
MADISON, Wis. – In the days following Wisconsin’s 77-63, the Badgers were one of the hot topics of national programming. Yet, the video clips shown on sports talk shows or embedded in internet stories rarely, if ever, showed any highlights from the five players in double figures.
The postgame incident between Michigan coach Juwan Howard and Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has been debated ad nauseam. Starting from breaking down the film frame by frame with a Zapruder-esque approach, TV talking heads and message board sleuths debated who or what was to blame for causing Howard to strike UW assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft in the face and the severity of the suspensions and fines handed down by the conference late Monday.
Basically, it was a nightmare for the Big Ten, taking the focus completely off the race for the conference title with two weeks to go.
If the media circus surrounding the event had any effect on Wisconsin, the Badgers didn’t show it during Wednesday’s 68-67 victory over Minnesota at Williams Arena. UW (22-5, 13-4 Big Ten) shot 51.1. percent from the field, were plus-19 on the glass and scored six points on the final four possessions with national player of the year candidate Johnny Davis fouled out.
“We put it behind us,” Gard said of the postgame dustup and the subsequent fallout. “(Our players) understood. They saw everything. We just needed to focus on next and get ready for the next game.”
Not willing to disrupt its best start in five seasons and its best conference start in seven years, Wisconsin chose not to sweep the incident under the rug. The team talked about the scrum during Monday’s film session, addressed it, and moved on.
It’s evident Michigan did the same thing, as the Wolverines – without their head coach for the final five games of the season and with two players serving a one-game suspension – beat Rutgers, 71-62, at the Crisler Center prior to UW’s tipoff.
“Mainly just blocking it out … moving on to the next game,” sophomore Steven Crowl said. “We have bigger things to play for. We’re playing for a Big Ten championship. Putting that in the review mirror was big for us.”
It was important for Gard, too, who was fined $10,000 by the Big Ten but found out from Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh that the University’s athletic department would be picking up the tab. Always seeming to be under scrutiny by somebody, Gard declined to say whether he would have handled the postgame handshake line with Michigan any differently.
“Hindsight is always 20/20,” Gard said. “I just appreciate the support that appeared immediately from Chris McIntosh and our administration for our student-athletes, for our staff, and for everybody involved in that. Chris and his staff have been terrific and very supportive consistently and immediately that day.”
While picking up its nation-leading 11th road/neutral site win of the season helps UW’s profile, the Badgers still have work to do over the next week to be in position for a second conference title in three seasons.
The Badgers returned home in the early morning hours Thursday, had a short practice window before flying to New Jersey today in advance of Saturday’s road game at Rutgers (5 p.m./Big Ten Network). Including the 73-65 win at the Kohl Center two weeks ago, Rutgers has won four of its last six games to put itself squarely on the bubble in advance of next month’s NCAA Tournament.
The Scarlet Knights are 4-0 in home games against the Big Ten teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25.
“It’s a very unique stadium,” forward Tyler Wahl said of Jersey Mike’s Arena, formerly the RAC, where UW is 1-3 in conference play. “Student section all the way up, they’ve got the whole baseline. They love their basketball. I’m excited to get in there. We’ve done pretty good in these road games. Hopefully we can go in there and get another one.”
UW closes with its back-to-back home games for the first time since December, opening the month of March against No.4 Purdue. The Boilermakers enter the weekend tied with UW at the top of the Big Ten standings, one game ahead of Illinois and 1.5 games ahead of Ohio State. The Buckeyes won at Illinois, 86-83, Thursday night. Purdue plays at Michigan State Saturday and closes at home against Indiana March 5.
The Badgers beat No.3 Purdue, 74-69, in Mackey Arena on Jan. 3, a night where Davis scored a career-high 37 points. Wisconsin closes the regular season March 8 against last-place Nebraska.
If UW wins its final three games, the Badgers will be the outright conference champions.
“Life in the Big Ten,” Gard said. “Nothing is going to be easy.”
_________________________________________________
*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den
*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel
*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)
*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @JakeKoco, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45
*Like us on Facebook