"I've Never Seen Anything Like That:" Greg Gard Reacts to Controversial Ending in Wisconsin's Overtime Loss at Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Following Saturday’s 78-77 overtime loss to Indiana, Wisconsin senior guard Nick Boyd and junior forward Nolan Winter took the high road. Neither wanted to use the questionable officiating in the final moments as a crutch.

Not that head coach Greg Gard put the loss squarely on the officials, but he wasn’t going to let them off the hook that easily.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Gard told reporters.

The play Gard referred to was an offensive foul issued to Boyd by official Larry Scirotto with 15 seconds remaining in overtime. Trailing 77-76, Indiana was looking to foul, but never got a whistle. After beating the press and even getting into the paint, Boyd recircled and attempted to pull the ball out. That’s when IU guard Conor Enright jumped in his path and drew the offensive foul — although Boyd did appear to extend his arm upon contact.

Either way, Gard felt the whistle should have blown well before Enright ever got the chance to draw the charge.

“They’re trying to foul, they actually fouled us three times coming up the floor. They didn’t call it,” Gard continued. “Offensively, we were driving away from the basket — I don’t understand that call. Never seen that type of call being made before. I guess, there’s a first for everything.”

“It’s a hard game to ref, but that wasn’t a hard call,” Gard later added.

The controversy didn’t end there, however. A game that saw just seven whistles in the first half, four of which were from Wisconsin using their fouls to give, beginning with 13.4 seconds left to wind down Indiana’s last possession, the second half became the polar opposite. After letting most of the contact go in the opening 20 minutes, the final period and overtime featured a combined 23 fouls.

It was the last foul of regulation and overtime that hurt the Badgers the most.

Leading 72-70 with 16 seconds remaining, UW needed one stop to get out of dodge. IU star guard Lamar Wilkerson drove against senior guard Andrew Rohde, who offered a slight bump, not even in the shooting motion, and didn’t seem to have much, if any, impact on the play. That sent Wilkerson to the line, where he effectively tied the game. Junior guard John Blackwell had a chance to win it in regulation, but his mid-range jumper missed right.

On IU’s final possession of overtime, Wilkerson then went at Blackwell, who stonewalled the senior twice. In live action, Wilkerson appeared to lose his balance, although the replay revealed incidental contact between the feet of Blackwell and Wilkerson. Following the game, Gard said he had not seen enough of the play to make a judgment.

When asked if he thought the final moments of regulation and overtime were consistent with how the rest of the game was being called, Gard stated simply:

“No….no.”

Trailing by as many as 14 points, UW allowed just one field goal in the last 10:31. However, it was the first half that had Gard frustrated. Falling behind by double digits for the sixth time in 10 games, the Hoosiers got way too comfortable early, connecting on eight consecutive shots at one point, five of which were dunks or layups

“There’s a lot of other things that went on in that game that we could do to not put ourselves in that position,” Gard said. “You learn from it and don’t just brush off the learning experience because of a mysterious last call.”

Indiana also shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, finished with 44 points in the paint, and didn’t allow a single fastbreak point, something no opponent has done to the Badgers this season.

“We put ourselves in that position by not coming out strong,” said Winter, who finished with a game-high 26 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks. “We didn’t execute on offense. We were lost on defense early on. To put it in the ref’s hands…that’s not what we should be doing.”

Winners in seven of their last eight games coming in, Wisconsin (16-7, 8-4) has now dropped its last three games at Assembly Hall. The Badgers will look to rebound on Tuesday at Illinois, aiming not to let the ending of Saturday’s loss beat them twice.

“That’s life,” said Boyd. “Pick your head up, get back to work tomorrow. We have to figure out a way to try and get a win.”