'A Great Timeout': Greg Gard Suggests Delay Stopped Wisconsin's Run in Loss at Indiana
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Greg Gard went straight to questions.
"What the hell time is it anyway?" Gard said, denying an opening statement in his press conference.
Wisconsin had just suffered a 74-70 loss at Indiana, a game that included a roughly 20-minute delay due a fire alarm going off in the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall balcony. It was the Badgers' sixth loss in eight games, a stretch that's seen them fall from No. 6 in the Associated Press top-25 poll to 18-10 overall and 10-7 in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin trailed by as many as 15 points with 6:09 left in the first half, before tying the game at 54-54 with 10:31 remaining. Then the fire alarm went off.
Fans were ordered to evacuate Assembly Hall, and teams went to their respective locker rooms. Wisconsin point guard Chucky Hepburn said he's never encountered a delay like this, and he didn't know when play would resume. During the delay, his main focus was staying loose and ready for whenever they'd return to action.
Gard suggested the delay impacted Wisconsin's momentum. After trailing by five points at halftime, the Badgers had a plus-five advantage in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
"I thought it was a great timeout for whoever from Indiana pulled the fire alarm for them as we're making a run," Gard said. "So, we had a little time in the locker room, not as much as they originally told us. Then you've got five minutes to warm back up and go play. So it was kind of like having two halftimes."
Wisconsin struggled all night on both ends of the floor with Indiana center Kel'el Ware, who finished the game with 27 points on 11-for-12 shooting, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Ware didn't play in the season's first matchup between Indiana and Wisconsin, a 91-79 Wisconsin win on Jan. 19 in Madison, and he clearly changed the game on Tuesday.
Wisconsin center Steven Crowl said Ware's shot-blocking was something Indiana missed in the first game, when Indiana allowed its second-most points of the season. Gard said Ware was the best player on the floor, and it had to be one of, if not the best, games of the season.
"Kel'el Ware had an All-American-type night, 20 points in the first half and he was terrific," Gard said. "But we also gave him easy buckets early where he got some confidence going, and he's a really good player. But he just did whatever he wanted in the first half, specifically."
Wisconsin held a two-point advantage with 2:06 remaining after a Tyler Wahl layup, but Indiana closed the game on a 6-0 run to secure the win. For Hepburn, Wisconsin's late-game downfalls were most severe on the defensive end.
"After that little break we had, we came out and stopped them five straight times but we couldn't get it done after that," Hepburn said. "So I'd definitely say it was the defensive side. The offensive side will come to us. We just need to lock in defensively, but we struggled to do that down the stretch, and they were able to close out the win."
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- IU-WISCONSIN GAME STORY: Kel'el Ware scored 27 points on 11-of-12 and Indiana forced six straight Wisconsin misses down the stretch to pull out a 74-70 victory. The game was delayed for 20 minutes after a fire alarm went off in Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers came back with a big finish to end a four-game losing streak. CLICK HERE
