By Mitchell Speltz – 12/8/2021

-MADISON, WI 

The young, Wisconsin Badgers (8-1) entered conference play with significant momentum after multiple signature wins in the first month of the college basketball season. But on Wednesday night, Big Ten play started about as poorly as it possibly could. The Badgers found themselves down 22 points in the first-half to the Indiana Hoosiers (7-2) with nothing going right on offense or defense. In the second half, a completely different Wisconsin team came out of the locker room, a team Badger fans have been accustomed to seeing. Led by a 23-point effort by rising star Johnny Davis, and unlikely contributors such as Chris Vogt, Ben Carlson, and Jordan Davis, Wisconsin tied a program record with a 22-point comeback ignited by their defense to win their conference opener, 64-59. The team’s defense shined again by holding the Hoosiers to just 17 second-half points. In addition to the record-breaking comeback, it’s also the third time this year Wisconsin has rallied from 10+ points down to win (Texas A&M, St. Mary’s). The Badgers will look to make it a 2-0 start in the Big Ten on the road against No. 21 Ohio State on Saturday, but first, the takeaways from Wednesday’s victory: 

TAKEAWAYS: 

• Defense. Defense. Defense. Wisconsin was able to make their historic comeback thanks to an elite defensive effort in the second half. After surrendering 42 first-half points, the Badgers held the Hoosiers to just 17 points on 5/22 shooting with no three-pointers in the second. Their ability to shut out Indiana from the perimeter was key, but the team’s capability to defend All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis one-on-one in the post set the tone. Greg Gard admitted after the game the goal was to double him and put pressure on him in the first half but adjusted to more straight-up defense against him after halftime, which helped the guards on the perimeter close out better on shooters. One could argue every player for Wisconsin who’s touched the floor is a plus-defender and this team continues to show that every game. 

• Chris Vogt established himself in a major way on Wednesday night and was the ultimate difference-maker in Wisconsin’s impressive rally against Indiana. Vogt led the team with a +13 margin while he was on the floor and made several impacts. His defense against the Hoosiers’ interior players changed things defensively, but what he did on offense stood out most. He extended possessions with offensive rebounds and hustle plays and contributed 9 points off the bench, showing a nice touch around the basket. With Steven Crowl struggling and dealing with foul trouble, the transfer from Cincinnati provided the spark off the bench Wisconsin needed. He’s been relatively quiet up to this point in the season, but against Indiana he showed what he can do and it will be needed against some of the elite big-men of the Big Ten due up on the schedule. 

• The influence Tyler Wahl had in this game cannot go unnoticed. Wahl grabbed a season-high 12 boards for the Badgers and his defense was most noticeable at the end of the game when he came up with a key block at the basket with Indiana looking to regain the lead in the final minute. He came up with just 7 points on Wednesday, but the Junior has carved out a role for himself as perhaps the best back-to-the-basket player for Wisconsin. Wahl has consistently shown the ability to back down his defender and score underneath the hoop. He’s a strong finisher around the rim and he’s made an impactful jump this season after being a stellar, glue guy his first two years in the program.
  
   
• Wisconsin turned the ball over just four times in this game. You read that right, just four turnovers. This Badger squad is playing like a vintage Wisconsin team by taking care of the ball, playing great defense, and executing all the important fundamentals. They lowered their turnover mark/game to 8.6, which is Top-10 nationally. Maximizing possessions and not turning the ball over is an aspect I did not expect this team to be thriving at this early in the season. 

AT THE PODIUM: 

• “Next man up. Jordan Davis was huge. We’ve said our numbers this year are really good for us. Everyone stepped up tonight” – Brad Davison on the impact of the bench 

• “It was awesome, when it comes to March and you’re competing for a Big Ten Championship, this is a game you look back to. These are the games that help you contend for championships” – Davison on the significance of the win 

• It’s easier to play when you’re down because you can play more aggressively. But we came back tonight because of our defense, we held them to 17 second-half points” – Johnny Davis on how the team was able to rally  
  
   
• Flashback to when Brad hit that three against Maryland. But when I hit that I knew we were going to win because our defense was going to lock it down from there” – Davis on hitting the go-ahead three-pointer 
  
   
• “One led to the other. They forced us into some bad shots and it led to easy ones for them on the other end. We were much better inside-out in the second half, which allowed us to set our defense better” – Greg Gard on what changed after halftime 

By Mitchell Speltz – 11/16/2021

-MADISON, WI 

The Wisconsin Badgers (2-1) encountered their first real test of the season on Monday night in the Gavitt Tipoff Games against the Providence Friars (3-0) from the Big East. The night didn’t start well even before the game began as leading scorer Johnny Davis (Bruised Heal) was ruled out along with backup point guard Jahcobi Neath (Lower Body). It was a tough stretch of 1/12 shooting to finish the first half that put the Badgers down 34-23 heading into the break, and it would be a hole they couldn’t dig out of. The Badgers shot just 32% for the game and a more dreadful 5/27 (18%) from the three-point line. Brad Davison led the team with 25 points and Tyler Wahl had a career-best 16 but the rest of the team produced just 17 points on 6/32 shooting. Greg Gard’s team will get a week off to get healthy and reset before they head to Las Vegas for the Maui Invitational. 

TAKEAWAYS: 

• If there was one known weakness coming into the season, it would be Wisconsin’s potential to struggle shooting three-pointers and that came true on Monday against Providence. Brad Davison had three of the five made triples for the Badgers, otherwise the rest of the team was 2/16. Am I hitting the panic button for their offensive performance? No. This is a young team, most of which had yet to see any action against a meaningful opponent and now we’ll see how they respond to adversity going forward. In addition, the early foul trouble of Steven Crowl and Chris Vogt in the first half made offense harder to come by and it very much affected the team defensively as well, especially against Providence big-man Nate Watson who finished with 24 points for the Friars.  

• As bad of a night as it was offensively, Wisconsin hung around in the game thanks to another strong defensive effort. The Badgers held Providence to 63 points, and most of the time, that’s an amount that will give you an opportunity to win. The team forced 15 turnovers and showed various moments where they frustrated Providence on offense. Brad Davison told Tyler Wahl after the game this is the best defensive team he’s been a part of and that means something coming from a player who is now in his fifth year in the program. The offense will see better days ahead, but for now, this team is going to rely much on its defense while they go through growing pains. 

• This is a loss that probably isn’t going to sit well with several Badger fans, and you hope it isn’t a sign of things to come, at least offensively. But this game should serve as an early reminder that this is a young team that is going to go through frustrating times. Wisconsin’s average age for their normal five starters this season is 19.8 compared to 22.6 last season, which is a major adjustment for Greg Gard. They’re also tied with Nebraska with the most underclassmen in the Big Ten with 12. There is still much to figure out about this team, but for the time being, temper expectations. 

AT THE PODIUM:

• “Without Johnny (Davis), Jahcobi (Neath), and having both our bigs in foul trouble is always going to make offense harder to come by. But I like the way we still competed and better days are ahead” – Brad Davison on playing shorthanded

• “Losses at this point of the season aren’t fatal. We don’t want to get content with this feeling but now we’ve got an important tournament coming up where we can show all the improvements we’ve made” – Davison on the message after the loss

• “We dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half. I’ve always liked the competitiveness and energy of this group but now we’ve got a lot of things to clean up and improve” – Greg Gard on the loss