When Wisconsin Badgers basketball team coach Greg Gard said anyone can step up from his team in other’s absence, he wasn’t exaggerating. The team lost to UCLA Bruins but Carter Gilmore managed to stand out, even getting praises from Mick Cronin.
Badgers came to the game as favorites, riding on their seven-game winning streak. Unfortunately for them, UCLA had a plan that worked.
At the center of this plan was 6’7 forward Gilmore is not even a starter.
Taling to reporters post-game, Cronin said they especially wanted to neutralize Gard’s bench, Gilmore and Kamari McGee among them.
“McGee missed a few shots. We blocked one of them. He got one he missed that I was really surprised, because he shoots 50%, from three. Gilmore was two for three. In my opinion watching him, he tries to get the ball to the go-to guys. He’s such a hustle guy. He just wants to win,” the 2023 Pac-12 Coach of the Year said.
It was such an interesting take for many Badgers fans. Gilmore is averaging just above 2 points per game this season on 48.8 percent shooting.
Nobody can argue that it was an effective plan as UCLA won the game, 85-83.
Subduing Carter Gilmore represents something
Cronin is not exactly talking about containing Gilmore who takes just around 3 shots per game.
The plan, he suggested, is taking away the energy of the bench that has been performing great for Badgers.
Obviously, that guy could care less about his points. So I wouldn’t say we did anything to slow him down. He’s two for three. One for two [from three]. If we did anything, we did a much better job as the game went on on the defensive glass. Early on, they only missed six shots and they get three of those misses. So I think in the second half they might have only had two offensive rebounds.
Most of the points still came from John Tonje and John Blackwell. The bench only had 12 points in total for the Badgers.
For more great Wisconsin sports content
Follow us @WiSportsHeroics for the latest and trending news about Packers, Brewers, Bucks, Marquette, and the rest of Wisconsin Sports. Stay updated by reading more of our Wisconsin Sports articles by clicking here and college basketball by clicking here!
