MADISON, Wis. - Greg Gard became the fourth Badger head coach to earn 200 wins, as the Wisconsin men's basketball team warded off Ohio State, 70-68 for its sixth-straight victory.

The Badgers (14-3, 4-2 Big Ten) built up a big lead after a strong defensive first half, but endured a second half comeback attempt from the Buckeyes (10-7, 2-4 Big Ten). 

Up two points with just 1.6 seconds to play, Carter Gilmore's tight defense forced an out-of-bounds turnover on Ohio State's inbound play, taking away any last-chance shot opportunities.

In a physical game, UW went 25-for-28 from the free throw line, including a 12-for-14 mark in the second half to keep its lead. 

John Tonje went 10-for-10 from the free throw line for a team-high 17 points. John Blackwell scored 15 points with six rebounds. Steven Crowl scored 14 points with seven rebounds.

OSU cut the lead to just one point with less than a minute of play remaining, after the Badgers led at half-time 37-20.

Blackwell scored the first 9 points for UW to build the lead. The Badger defense also played strong, forcing Ohio State to a 3-for-14 shooting start.

With the clock running down in the first half, Tonje stole the ball and rushed for an emphatic dunk to punctuate an 8-0 scoring run for Wisconsin.

Gard became the third-fastest coach in UW history to reach 200 wins, doing so in 210 games. 

After Tuesday's win, Wisconsin is now 14-3 on the season with a 4-2 mark in conference play. The team is on a six game winning streak, including its last four conference meetings.
 

Notable:

• Greg Gard won his 200th game as the head coach at Wisconsin, becoming the fourth Badger coach to reach that milestone. He is joined in the 200-win club by a trio of Naismith Hall of Famers: Walter Meanwell, Bud Foster and Bo Ryan.

• UW held Ohio State to just 20 points in the first half, matching the fewest by any opponent this season. It is also the fewest allowed in a Big Ten game since holding Illinois to 20 on 1/28/22.

• UW leads the NCAA shooting 85.4% (316-for-370) from the FT line. The Badgers are averaging 18.8 made FTs per game.

• UW has won 27 consecutive games when making at least 25 free throws dating back to the 2009-10 season.

• Crowl now has 1,303 points, 753 rebounds and 255 assists in his career, making him the fourth Badger ever and the 15th player in Big Ten history to accumulate at least 1,200 points, 750 rebounds and 250 assists since 1986-87.

• Tonje went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. He has now made 10+ FTs in four games this season, second-most in the NCAA trailing only Memphis' PJ Haggerty (Six).

Quotable:

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard on 200th career win: "You guys know this is not about me. My name goes with it, but I've had terrific players, the current ones and ones that have been here for the last nine years, terrific coaches with me. I have a phenomenal staff right now, a support system. You divide this up. It's a lot of hard work by a lot of people, a lot of hours go unseen and unnoticed to have an opportunity to help a program be successful." 

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard on key components to the win: "We were able to find a way, I think obviously a tale of two halves specifically on the defensive end, and I think we were sharp offensively really all night, but the free throw line. I think getting there 28 times and racking up some foul trouble on their side was important for us, and we haven't been in a lot of games like that where it's come down to have it execute and foul and play that game. That experience I think will help us. There are some things we'll obviously learn."

John Tonje on lessons from the game: "It's good throughout the season to see a whole bunch of different games and different scenarios to look back on when we're trying to make a run. It's good to know that any lead, you can't sit on it — teams at this level can always come back, it seems like. It was good to come out here and get a win and get this experience as well."

Steven Crowl on Coach Gard's 200th win: "I don't think I'd be the player I am today without him or the coaches he puts around him. They push me in different ways throughout the years. It's been super fun to play with him, and I'm excited for the second half of the season and to try and make a deeper run in the tournament, hopefully."

John Blackwell (on the team's depth): "It's a blessing, adding John Tonje and with Steve even in his fifth year still getting better. Nolan, Jack Janicki and Kamari McGee, it helps when they can knock down shots and make plays. It shows we're a deep team."

Up Next:

The Badgers hit the road to California to take on USC and UCLA. UW will take on USC on Saturday in a 2 p.m. CT contest on Big Ten Network before facing UCLA on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. CT on Peacock. Fans can also listen to the games on the Badger Radio Network.