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This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo.
Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard has shared his thoughts on a controversial foul call from the final first-half minutes of the Badgers’ loss to UCLA on Tuesday. That play proved significant as Wisconsin fell 85-83 in a back-and-forth affair.
With roughly 10 seconds remaining in the opening stanza, Wisconsin guard Jack Janicki fouled UCLA bench guard Sebastian Mack in what Gard hoped would be among the last of the Badgers’ fouls to give.
Instead, referees called an intentional foul, sending Mack to the line for two free throws and an extra possession. On the ensuing sequence, forward Tyler Bilodeau canned a two-point jumper from inside the right wing to cut Wisconsin’s edge to just five points entering the intermission.
“I’ll see what the league has to say about that, about the call,” Gard told media after the loss. “I mean, they knew what we were doing. We had fouls to give.”
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UCLA ultimately won the contest courtesy of stellar bench performances from Mack and Aday Mara, but the play certainly vanquished any type of momentum Wisconsin established late in the first half. Prior to the play, UW held a 41-32 lead. The Bruins outscored Wisconsin 23-10 over a 13:00-minute stretch immediately following four-point swing.
Wisconsin will look for a bounce-back performance when it returns to the court on Jan. 26 vs. Nebraska at the Kohl Center.
