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Greg Gard praises Wisconsin’s fight, grit following tough win over Dayton

Cole Thompson

By Cole Thompson

Published:

Greg Gard praised his team’s work ethic, grit and determination following a 43-42 win over Dayton in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis. The Badgers went on a 23-14 run to begin the afternoon but nearly blew an 8-point lead with 13 minutes remaining in the 2nd half.

Wisconsin basketball could be in for a revival year in 2023. Gard was very proud of how his team battled down the stretch.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Gard. “Proud of our guys for just continuing to find a way.”

Freshman sensation Connor Essegian scored a season-high 13 points despite shooting just 23.7% from the field. As a team, Wisconsin made just 14 of 59 shots for the game, and was 6 of 29 (20.7%) after halftime. The Badgers also made just 22.2% of their shots (6-of-27) from the 3-point range.

Junior Steven Crowl tallied 9 points in 32 minutes, and was 3 of 11 from the field. He also was credited with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Jordan Davis went 1 of 7 from the field, but led Wisconsin with 8 total rebounds.

Sitting at 4-0 to begin the year, Wisconsin will advance to Thursday’s semifinal to play reigning national champion Kansas. The No. 3 Jayhawks beat North Carolina State in Wednesday’s tournament opener.

That game will tip off at 11 a.m ET and will be shown on ESPN.

Cole Thompson

Cole Thompson is a freelance writer for Saturday Tradition who has covered college football and the NFL for multiple websites. Thompson is currently based in Houston, Texas, and also can be heard daily on SportsMap National Radio's 'Just Sayin It' from 3am-6am.