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Victory over rival Minnesota gives Wisconsin's Greg Gard his 100th Big Ten victory

jeff potrykus, milwaukee journal sentinel
·1 min read
Head coach Greg Gard of the Wisconsin Badgers looks on against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first half at Williams Arena on Tuesday night.
Head coach Greg Gard of the Wisconsin Badgers looks on against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first half at Williams Arena on Tuesday night.

MINNEAPOLIS – Greg Gard got an early shower in the Wisconsin locker room Tuesday night.

One word into his post-game chat, the UW players poured water all over their head coach.

The occasion?

UW’s 61-59 victory over rival Minnesota gave Gard 100 Big Ten victories in 162 games.

Gard, 53, became the fourth UW coach and 23rd coach in Big Ten history to hit the mark. Only five Big Ten coaches in the last 50 seasons have achieved the feat in fewer games.

They are:

Indiana’s Bob Knight (135 games), UW’s Bo Ryan (140), Ohio State’s Thad Matta (141), Michigan State’s Tom Izzo (143) and Purdue’s Gene Keady (144).

By comparison, Purdue’s Matt Painter needed 173 games to hit the 100-victory mark, Michigan’s John Beilein needed 183, Iowa’s Tom Davis needed 185 and Illinois’ Lou Henson needed 189.

The victory over the Gophers left No. 10-ranked UW (15-4, 7-1 Big Ten) alone in first place in the league, one-half game ahead of No. 2 Purdue (18-2, 7-2).

Gard, who took over for Ryan early in the 2015-16 season, improved his overall record to 179-97 (.649). Among coaches with at least 100 Big Ten victories, his winning percentage of .617) ranks 11th in league history.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Greg Gard gets his 100th Big Ten victory