BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin men's basketball coach Greg Gard opened his press conference Monday with an injury update.
"We're all good," he said with a grin. "Everyone came out of that mob scene healthy."
Gard was referring to the "extremely happy" locker room Sunday night at Scottrade Center in St. Louis where the seventh-seeded Badgers celebrated a stunning 66-63 victory over second-seeded Xavier that ferried them into Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
Moments after junior point guard Bronson Koenig swished a 3-pointer that just beat the final buzzer, Koenig and Gard were being launched into the middle of a chanting, delirious, sweaty scrum of humanity.
"I didn't tear an ACL or anything," Gard reported.
The triumph meant UW (22-12 overall) will face sixth-seeded Notre Dame (23-11) in an East Regional semifinal Friday at 6:27 p.m. at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The win over Xavier was the latest entry into a remarkable file folder for the Badgers, who rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final 6 minutes, 19 seconds to secure the upset.
Gard said the 17-5 finishing kick, fueled by clutch shots and marvelous defense, served as a microcosm for the season.
You should be able to recite the pertinent details by now.
Wisconsin was 7-5 overall when long-time coach Bo Ryan abruptly resigned on Dec. 15 and Gard was elevated from associate head coach to interim overseer.
Roughly a month later, the Badgers were 9-9 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten Conference following a loss to Northwestern on Jan. 15.
Since then UW has won 13 of its last 16 games and needs just two more victories to earn a berth in the Final Four for the third consecutive season.
In the midst of that surge Gard was named full-time head coach by UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez.
"For them it's a good life lesson," Gard said, "understanding that you're going to be faced with adverse situations throughout your life and (you should) continue to work through them, trust the people around you, stick together and don't flinch in the moments.
"Those guys have responded immensely to everything we've thrown at them and I'm proud of them, obviously."
As was the case in a NCAA opening-round 47-43 win over Pittsburgh last Friday, the Badgers found a way to make plays when they needed to on the way to holding Xavier 17 points under its season scoring average.
Gard said his club has learned to embrace the importance of defense.
"I think this group has grown defensively as a unit as much as any point in time in the year over the last week," he said. "They've really responded to what we've tried to emphasize more defensively."
Gard thought his players eventually rose to the physical challenge presented by Pitt and that tone carried over to Xavier.
"Defensively we've shrunk the floor much better," he said. "We've taken away driving lines. We've become much more physical in the post.
"This group understands that they can hang their hat on their defense. If the ball isn't going in or we're struggling a little bit offensively, there are other ways we can find a way to win."
It's a departure from the last two seasons when the Badgers advanced to the national semifinals leaning heavily on a multi-layered offense that averaged 73.5 and 72.5 points per game, respectively.
UW currently averages 68.1 while employing an expanded rotation of newcomers.
"We don't have the same pieces, the same experience," Gard said. "We have to manufacture offense in different ways."
Gard said he's still using fundamental defensive drills in practice that are typically shelved in October or November.
"The biggest thing is they figured out pretty quickly that in order for us to be a good team we were going to have to be a good defensive team first," he said. "Then the offense will come."
According to Gard, the Badgers didn't have the rugged mindset to play the likes of Pitt and Xavier earlier this season.
"We would have wilted," he said. "They've matured a lot in that area."
Part of that growing-up process is unity.
"I think this group has developed and grown a belief in each other and they believe that they can win," Gard said.
Doubters dominated the narrative earlier this season when losses to Western Illinois, Milwaukee, Marquette and Northwestern — teams that didn't qualify for the NCAA tournament — were still fresh in everyone's mind.
At the same time, UW players were still trying to cultivate an identity on the floor and in the locker room.
"I don't know if this group would have had the togetherness to celebrate like that earlier in the year," Gard said of the win over Xavier. "That's what's grown. They've come together and now they can enjoy a special moment together.
"Now this group has bonded so much more and believe in each other so much that they think anything's possible. That's really the key, I think, in coaching. You have to believe in them, but then you also have to have them believe in each other."
There are still doubters, but their voices are much quieter now than they were in January.
"As long as they believe and you believe in them then it really doesn't matter what happens on the outside, the periphery," Gard said. "That's the neat part as a coach to watch that all come together."
