Greg Gard comments on delay and evacuation that halted Wisconsin run vs Indiana basketball: ‘It was a great timeout”

Following a significant win for Indiana basketball on Tuesday night that had numerous twists and turns, Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard was not happy come his postgame comments.

Indiana, who Wisconsin had defeated earlier this season by 12 at home, took it to the Badgers this time around. It started on the back of Kel’el Ware who had 20 first half points, finishing with 27 on 11-of-12 shooting with 11 rebounds and five blocks.

His early start helped Indiana take a 15-point lead with 6:09 remaining in the first half. Then, Wisconsin went on its run.

The Badgers outscored Indiana 37-22 over the next 16 minutes, tying the game at 54-all with 10:06 left.

Related: ‘He had a man’s game’: Indiana basketball takes down Wisconsin behind dominant performance from Kel’el Ware

Then, a fire alarm evacuated Assembly Hall for nearly 10 minutes before fans and both teams were allowed back in. After that, it was a back-and-forth battle until the end.

But, it was Gard who spoke postgame about how that impacted the outcome of the game.

“I thought it was a great timeout for whoever from Indiana pulled the fire alarm for them as we were making a run,” Gard said with a very slight smirk. “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.”

Indiana made winning plays down the stretch — just enough to pull away. They were plays that this team failed to make during its 4-10 stretch since Big Ten play resumed on Jan. 3.

“When you go in the locker room, you’re trying to clean up things going on during the course the game, especially the second half when we got going, and then try to get offensive plays in quickly so they know what we’re doing when we come out to start play again,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “It’s a tie game (at that point). I thought we played well early. Wisconsin, they’re well-coached. They’re not going to ever quit. They pushed us to the end. I just thought we held in there after even going down. I think we went down three and Mack hit a big three to tie it.

“From that point on we never looked back.”

Indiana would go on to make seven of its final eight shots following the resumption of play. In total, Indiana shot 63.6 percent in the second half.

“It was the start (of the game) when we gave them confidence. Then we were able to collect ourselves,” Gard said. “Then down the stretch to get a stop. You need to take a two-point lead and make it four or five. We gave up an offensive rebound I know — (Malik) Reneau got one, we got ball screened and tried to change the route on a ball screen and (Trey) Galloway then tied it with a floater. One play here or there makes a big difference.

“Indiana is a good team. They have had their struggles but they are talented … They’ve got good players and when you give good players confidence, you’ll have a long night.”

Wisconsin held a two-point advantage with 2:06 remaining but Indiana closed the game on a 6-0 run to seal the victory.

Indiana basketball improved to 15-13 on the season and 7-10 in Big Ten play.

“Mack (Mackenzie Mgbako) stepped up after going down three, hitting the big three. Malik (Reneau) hit the big two leaning inside that put us back up two, which was a huge bucket,” Woodson said. “Then we came down and got a big stop defensively. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t seen that out of our team. We just haven’t done it consistently.”

SEE ALSO: ‘It’s like we got that monkey off our back’: Indiana basketball digs deep and gets much-needed win amid difficult season. Now, it’s about ‘validating it’.

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