5 key quotes from Greg Gard after an important Wisconsin road victory over Iowa

Greg Gard was happy with how the team performed over Iowa, even though it was nowhere near as electric as the first time the two teams met this season. In that first matchup, Wisconsin won 116-85, and this time was a more normal 74-63. It was a bit of a battle until the final minutes which is when Wisconsin slowly put the game away. It was a very important Big Ten road win that will go down as a quad-1 win for the tournament resume.

Greg Gard says that good teams find a way to win games after win over Iowa

Greg Gard spoke to the media after the game and here are 5 of the best things he had to say:

"For the most part, we were able to limit them to one shot per possession and take care of the ball better in the second half. "

Greg Gard

The Badgers had nine total turnovers in the game, but most of those came in the first half. They also had a great game defensively against the Big Ten's top-scoring offense. It was the lowest points scored all season for Iowa at 64.

On the defensive improvement:

"It just shows how much they are buying in and how much they are getting better...We were pretty well attached to the shooters and we were able to cover for each other when there was a breakdown. "

Greg Gard

On the half-time adjustments:

"It's just be more aggressive. The biggest message was "compete." I just don't feel we competed enough at the level we needed to compete at in the first half. In the second half we were much better in that category. "

Greg Gard

One of the fears for this game was that Wisconsin would come in expecting to dismantle Iowa like they did last time. However, the Hawkeyes are much too good for that and weren't going to roll over like last time. Wisconsin showed a bit of this lackadaisical spirit to start the game, and the adjustment at half-time was key.

On John Tonje's play against Iowa:

"I thought he was a bit too impatient in the first half. In the second half he was able to attack when the floor was a little more spread. "

Greg Gard

On the week off and how satisfied with where they are at this point:

"Not satisfied. That's what I told to them. We aren't relaxing, this isn't a time to take a breath. You have to continue to get better, you continue to find ways to sharpen us individually and collectively. We have a lot of season left. We will use this week to get healthier and rested. The back half of the week we will prep for Purdue. "

Greg Gard

The next game is in a week against a top-10 team in Purdue. It will be a week in which Greg Gard will want to continue to see improvement and be ready to go, once again, on the road.