Wisconsin basketball had been playing some solid hoops heading into Tuesday night. Wisconsin had upset both Illinois and Michigan State, and hit the road to face Ohio State. The Buckeyes would upset the Badgers 86-69.
After the loss, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard gave praise to Ohio State, but also took a veiled shot at modern college hoops, per Nick Osen of 247Sports.
“They're not robots. They're humans, right? So, yeah,” Gard said regarding the inconsistent play of his team. “Why doesn't Ohio State play like this all the time, right? I mean, that's what it is. Why didn't Michigan play like that all the time? Yeah, they're humans. They're 18 to 28, 29.”
Gard was taking a small shot at recent changes in rules in college basketball that have seen players staying longer, joining from overseason, and even returning to college hoops in some cases, leading to older players. The most noted example of an older player in college basketball is Ramel Bethea of Green Bay. He is 29-years old currently.
Regardless of age, Wisconsin did not play up to its standard.
“When we threw the ball up, I thought right from the beginning we did not have the same mentality to us, aggressiveness to us, physicality to us. Ohio State, they were much more aggressive, much more physical than we were. Set the tone early and they were able to get that lead,” Gard opened his press conference with. “But I didn't like how, like I said, how we started from both ends of the floor. So I thought we were just not as, we didn't have the same fight to us that we've had over the last two, three weeks.”
Wisconsin is now 18-8 on the season, and 10-5 in conference play. They have a chance to get back into the win column on Sunday, as they host Iowa.
