Two of the most consistent coaches in college basketball manned the sidelines at the Kohl Center on Saturday.
Oregon’s Dana Altman and Wisconsin’s Greg Gard, two of the longest-tenured coaches in the Big Ten, boast a combined 582 wins as head coaches since assuming their responsibilities with Oregon and Wisconsin, respectively. Altman, who’s held his position since the 2010-11 season, outclassed Gard on Saturday.
Despite trailing by as many as 17 points late in the first half, Altman’s Ducks never relented. Oregon orchestrated an impressive 16-2 scoring surge to close the contest to erase its late 14-point deficit and send the game into overtime. In that five-minute stanza, big man Nate Bittle would captain his crew to a key road victory.
After the contest, Altman praised the Badgers’ offensive execution this season.
“Coming in, watching Greg’s team play on film, their ball movement and execution are so impressive,” Altman said. “I told the guys we have to break their rhythm a little bit some way because they move the ball so good. And so we got that rhythm just a little bit out of sync in that second half, and that really helped us.”
Altman didn’t lie. Wisconsin misfired on virtually every look it launched to close the second half and committed a staggering 11 turnovers in the final 20 minutes to essentially hand the game away to an Oregon team badly in need of a late-season boost.
The Badgers were also unable to reach the free throw line once in the second half or overtime frame, a losing recipe for a team with the No. 1 free throw efficiency in the country.
Aside from the activity on the hardwood, Altman also alluded to the electric atmosphere both during and before the contest. Wisconsin honored its 2000 Final Four team ahead of Saturday’s game, igniting a raucous reaction from the thousands of onlookers littered throughout the Kohl Center.
For a team in the midst of its first season in the Big Ten, Altman couldn’t help but acknowledge the energy.
“Unbelievable atmosphere here, great crowd honoring coach [Dick] Bennett’s team before the game,” Altman said. “It’s a great atmosphere. Players want to play good teams. Wisconsin’s a really good team. We just caught fire there in the second half, and that happens.”
The Ducks now sit at 20-8 on the season and 9-8 in conference play, with an opportunity to contend for a position in national rankings next week. Wisconsin, meanwhile, will continue its season against Washington on Feb. 25 before traveling to East Lansing for a must-win bout against the Spartans on March 2.
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