MILWAUKEE – Prior to coming off the bench Friday, sophomore forward Ben Carlson’s NCAA Tournament experience last year was a grand total of 39 seconds. Suffice it to say his impact was exponentially bigger this time around.

One of three reserves who saw action in Wisconsin’s 67-60 win over Colgate Friday, Carlson was active and aggressive in his 10 minutes, 15 seconds on the court to provide the necessary lift to move the Badgers into the Round of 32.

"I definitely thought I helped out the team a lot," Carlson said. "I try to do it every day and just give some good minutes, good energy off the bat. So that was definitely exciting."

Carlson – who was averaging a minuscule 1.5 points entering the tournament – didn’t wait long to impact the game. With his team down 9-2 when he entered with 14:46 remaining, Carlson took a pass from Tyler Wahl outside the pain. He put the ball on the floor to dribble pass forward Ryan Moffatt, cut across the face of center Jeff Woodward and finished over his out-stretch arms with a left-handed hook shot.

On the ensuing possession, Carlson gathered an offensive rebound that led to Wahl hitting a right-handed hook shot in the lane to cut the deficit to one possession. Subbed out prior to the under-8 timeout before coming back on the floor for the final 3:38 of the half.

In what was likely his best all-around play, Carlson out-leaped guard Jack Ferguson in the lane for his third offensive rebound of the half. Instead of kicking the pass out, Carlson ripped the ball through guard Tucker Richardson’s arms and finished with his left hand at the rim to cut Colgate’s lead to 26-25.

“Ben comes in and he gets us a few offensive rebounds when shots aren’t necessarily falling for us,” Wahl said. “That was a big spark for us. We were able to get some offensive rebounds and some second-chance points off. That got us going.”

UW shortened the bench considerably in the second half, with senior Chris Vogt playing eight minutes and Carlson and guard Jahcobi Neath playing just two, but the Badgers outscored Colgate by 11 points when Carlson was on the floor, best on the team.

“It's a tougher matchup for him just because of all the mobile fours that shot threes,” head coach Greg Gard said. “I thought he did a good job. He was active on the glass, got us going a little bit offensively in the first half when we were too jump shot happy by getting on the glass and finishing some plays there and keeping possessions alive.”

Gard doesn’t define a successful bench performance by a player’s point total, more so by how that person impacts the game in the other areas that need to push a team in a tight game over the finish line. Among those boxes to check - rebounding, making hustle plays, and winning 50-50 loose ball battles.

“I don’t want to label it as one thing that it has to be scoring or rebounding,” Gard said. “Be good as much as you can be good at and try to help us in ways.”

Over the course of the last month, that has been Carlson. He’s made two spot starts this season because of injuries (the Badgers are 0-2 in those games) but the former four-star recruit has made his mark off the bench. He registered six rebounds in nine minutes against Michigan, scored two points and three rebounds in seven minutes over Purdue, and has at least one offensive rebound in four of the last five games.

With 25 offensive rebounds in 280 minutes on the court, Carlson is averaging an offensive rebound every 11.2 minutes. Only Vogt (one every 8.2) has a better average.

"Rebounding has always been one of my main focuses," Carlson said. "Going back even in high school, that's always been my strength. Trying to get those offensive rebounds. Those are three possessions for our offense."

Carlson showed his potential early last season. In his first collegiate game, he scored a career-high 13 points in 17 minutes of a 77-67 victory over Eastern Illinois. His totals dropped off sharply after that and a back injury suffered after the seventh game sidelined him until his 39-second NCAA Tournament appearance.

Forced into catch-up mode because of the injuries, Carlson's usage in games has been spotty but he believes he is building a good foundation to have an expanded role moving into next fall.

"Obviously, you got more basketball to play this year, but looking forward, you feel like you're just building yourself up," Carlson said. "Getting stronger, both as a player and just improve skill-wise. Every game is a learning opportunity. Take one thing from every single game story, just keep building on every game somebody knows. Keep taking one game at a time and see how far we can take it."

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