Why Wisconsin Coach Greg Gard Has 'Great Respect' for Matt Painter, Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Greg Gard and Matt Painter aren't that different in terms of their situations. Both are considered to be among the best basketball coaches in the Big Ten after taking over for legendary figures. Walking into those situations can be difficult, and it's why the Wisconsin head coach has a lot of respect for his counterpart at Purdue.
Saturday afternoon, Gard led his 16th-ranked Badgers to a 94-84 victory over the seventh-ranked Boilermakers at Mackey Arena — one of the most hostile environments in college hoops.
John Tonje sliced up Purdue, scoring 32 points in the win. Max Klesmit added 17, Nolan Winter had 12 and John Blackwell and Jack Janicki each scored 11 points. It was one of Wisconsin's most impressive wins of the year.
In recent years, the Badgers have enjoyed a fair amount of success against the Boilermakers. When asked if there's a trend in these matchups, Gard really didn't have an answer.
So, rather than try to pinpoint any particular reason, he talked about the success that Painter has had in West Lafayette — and how the Purdue leader helped Gard early in his career in Madison.
"Matt has done a phenomenal job here. He's a Hall of Famer," Gard said. "His transformation from (Gene) Keady to his career — I leaned on him a lot when I took over for Coach (Bo) Ryan. It's not easy. He had big shoes to fill, and he's made those shoes bigger, he's stretched those shoes. Just great respect for this program, because he does it the right way."
Painter took over for Keady — the program's all-time wins leader — following the 2004-05 season. He's now in his 20th season at Purdue, leading the team to five Big Ten regular season titles, two Big Ten Tournament championships, 15 NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the National Championship Game.
Gard also took over for an icon in Ryan, who won four Big Ten titles, three conference tournaments and reached the Final Four twice. In his 10 years as the leader of the Badgers, Gard has won a pair of regular season league titles and made six March Madness appearances.
It's safe to say that, even though they followed legendary coaches, both have enjoyed plenty of success in their careers.
After talking through it in the postgame presser, Gard answered the question Wisconsin's success against Purdue in a roundabout way. It has to do with the similarities between the two programs.
"I think there are a lot of similarities, a lot of commonalities as to why Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State — year in and year out — are typically pretty good." Gard said. "It's the consistency and continuity."
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WHAT PAINTER SAID: No. 7 Purdue dropped a 94-84 decision to No. 16 Wisconsin at Mackey Arena on Saturday. Here's everything coach Matt Painter had to say following the loss. CLICK HERE
TONJE, BADGERS BEAT BOILERS: John Tonje scored 32 points and Max Klesmit added 17 as No. 16 Wisconsin took down No. 7 Purdue 94-84 at Mackey Arena on Saturday. CLICK HERE
SMITH'S PICTURE-PERFECT PASS: Braden Smith may have delivered one of his best passes of the season, finding a wide-open Fletcher Loyer for an easy bucket as Purdue hosted Wisconsin. CLICK HERE
