Spending Christmas on the road is never easy, but head coach Greg Gard and his staff tried to make things as awesome as possible for the Badgers.

For No. 9 Wisconsin, Christmas Day also brings with it a highly-anticipated road game vs No. 12 Michigan State in East Lansing. That means spending Christmas in a hotel and away from family, though it’s worth noting that all B1G hoops teams remained together throughout the holidays.

To try and make things as normal as possible, Gard and his staff set up a Christmas morning gift time for the players. The entire setup was complete with a Buddy the Elf with Director of Basketball Operations Marc VandeWettering taking one for the team in the costume.

Check it out:

Thankfully for the Spartans and Badgers, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo revealed during the week that parents of players on both teams will be allowed in the Breslin Center Friday. That should make the Christmas Day showdown a bit more special for everyone involved.

Tip-off is set for 12:30 pm EST on FOX.