The Greg Gard era began as well as any Wisconsin basketball fan could ask for until some tense moments late in the game. The Wisconsin Badgers led 68-38 in the second half and held on to defeat the UW-Green Bay Phoenix 84-79 on Wednesday night in the Kohl Center in Gard’s first game as the Badgers’ head coach.
For the first time since March 2001, Bo Ryan was not pacing in front of the Badgers bench, which was a strange sight to see. Gard has begun his head-coaching career 1-0, as the Badgers improved to 8-5 overall in their final non-conference game of the season.