Wisconsin headed back on the road Thursday afternoon to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Looking to avoid a second straight loss. Although Nebraska is 0-8 in the Big Ten this year, they took Ohio State to overtime and played a close game against Illinois. The Badgers were able to pull out the win 73-65. Here’s three things from the game.
Slow Start to Strong Finish
Tuning in to the first eight minutes, one could assume the Badgers were the ones coming off a ten day covid break. At the under twelve timeout, Wisconsin was shooting just 5-16 from the field. With Johnny Davis being 0-2. While on the other hand, Nebraska started 5-5 from the field.
The rust wore off for the Badgers after the much needed timeout, while Nebraska came back to earth. After starting 5-5 they then went five for their next 20 attempts. Wisconsin’s offense turned around, thanks to Brad Davison and Chucky Hepburn who combined 8-10 from three.
A strange half from Johnny Davis who went 0-5 and had two fouls. You could see the frustration from Johnny building with the officials. After all that, the Badgers held a 39-31 lead at half. Shooting an absurd 9-14 from three and just 4-24 from two.
The second half, Wisconsin asserted their dominance. Defensively, they held the Cornhuskers to one for their first 13 shots from the field and went 8 minutes without a field goal. On the other end, Johnny Davis found his groove in transition. A sweet spin move jam gave Wisconsin their largest lead of the game at 18. Nebraska followed this dunk with an 11-0 run to tighten up the game. Once again the defense stepped up, and led to some easy transition buckets to regain the double digit lead.
THE FINISH. THE DUNK. ☄️@JohnnyDavis is a problem for @BadgerMBB pic.twitter.com/sAMOwiEtWB
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 27, 2022
Brad Breaking Records
Two years ago in this same building, Brad Davison knocked down nine threes in a game which tied a school record for most in a game. This afternoon, Davison passed Bronson Koenig for the most threes in school history. 271 threes for Brad, love him or hate him. He is a lethal shooter and deserves this record. Wisconsin needed every bit of Davison’s 17 points in the first half.
🚨 ALL TIME 3PM LEADER🚨@braddavi34 for the @BadgerMBB record‼️ pic.twitter.com/3ovch6OgEk
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 27, 2022
Brad finished with just 21 points after a quiet second half. But, he was a huge factor for getting the Badgers rolling on the offensive end. Especially from three.
Overcoming Adversity
This Badgers team has overcome some serious off the court adversity this season. Chris Vogt’s hometown was hit by a devastating tornado the night before a game against Ohio State. Vogt started raising money to help his community. Then just this week, it was announced that Greg Gard’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. After losing his father to brain cancer in 2015, it is heartbreaking to see it happening again to Coach Gard. The team wore pink laces tonight to show their support.
Also this week, Freshman guard Chucky Hepburn lost his brother to a shooting in Omaha. Chucky had to play with a heavy heart today, and had one of his best games of the year in his home state. Aside from this year, the team also still feels the impact of the continued absence of coach Howard Moore. It is a testament to the strength of this team and their bond to have each other’s backs.
First bucket of the game goes to @ChuckyHepburn tonight 👌.
CC: @BadgerMBB pic.twitter.com/a1CNFfiH3c
— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) January 27, 2022
The Badgers also faced some adversity on the floor tonight. Foul trouble has been an issue all season for Wisconsin which is not usually the case. In the first half, Chucky, Johnny and Crowl all had two fouls and spent a lot of time on the bench. A very physical game, the Badgers weren’t getting a great whistle. In response, Wisconsin anchored down on the defensive end and got out in transition.
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