MADISON, Wis. – Basketball can be a cruel game. Brad Davison knows it well.
The senior was headed for his best statistical season in late December. After scoring 11 points in Wisconsin’s Christmas Day win at Michigan State, Davison pushed his double-digit scoring streak to five straight games and was averaging 11.2 points per contest, shooting 40.3 percent from the field, and 43.6 percent from the 3-point range.
It’s been a slippery slope since. The senior has shot less than 40 percent for 10 straight games, a run that has included six missed shots in three games, seven misses in two, eight misses once, and one game with nine.
His scoring success has been mostly tied to his 3-point shot. Over the last 10 games, Davison has reached double figures in the only three games where he’s hit three 3-pointers. After shooting above 50 percent from three in five of the first eight games of the year, Davison has done it just three times since.
He was just 3-for-10 overall in Tuesday’s win over Penn State, but a 3-pointer at the buzzer, giving Wisconsin the halftime lead, sparked him. His 13 points were the most he had scored since Jan.15.
“I trust my shot,” Davison said. “I put countless hours and time into it. Whether it’s off the dribble or catch and shoot, early mornings or late nights, I put the time in, so I got to trust it. Averages always average out … so I’m going to continue to shoot them.
“Seeing one go in always helps you because then you’re hunting the next one. But as we always say here, especially these last few games, our focus is going to be on the defensive side of the ball. We know if we want to win games, it’s going to be from getting stops.”
Playing defense isn’t something the Wisconsin coaching staff has had to convince Davison to do since he arrived on campus. His four best defensive rebounding totals this season have come during his “shooting slump,” and his overall defense has improved. Davison is averaging a career-best 2.2 rebounds per game and drew his 69th career charge Tuesday.
“Brad’s Brad,” senior point guard D’Mitrik Trice said, smiling. “Brad is always going to bring that energy. When I am watching the games afterward, he’s always the guy you can hear on the court. He’s always talking. Whether he’s in the game or out of the game, you can always pick up his voice. He brings a lot more to the game than just his shooting ability.”
The defense will again be the key for Wisconsin (14-5, 8-4) when it travels Champaign to face No.14 Illinois (12-5, 8-3) tomorrow afternoon for the first of two February meetings between the programs. The Illini are second in the conference in both scoring (82.2) and field goal percentage (50.1 percent) while leading the conference in 3-point shooting (39.7 percent), a lot of the production coming from junior guard Ayo Dosunmu.
Both Trice and Davison heaped praise on Dosunmu Thursday, with Davison calling him one of the best guards in the country that will require multiple players defending him. Averaging over 16 shots per game, Dosunmu is averaging 21.2 points and shooting 48.5 from the field. The junior is also shooting 41.1 percent from 3-point range and averages, 6.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.8 turnovers per game.
Dosunmu scored a team-high 18 points in the only meeting between the two clubs last year, a 71-70 Illinois victory. The Illini win broke a 15-game losing streak to the Badgers and Dosunmu was largely responsible down the stretch while either scoring or assisting on Illinois’ final 14 points, including a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left over Davison.
“He’s their go-to guy,” Davison said of Dosumnu. “Not only did he make a lot of plays against us down the stretch, but he just makes a lot of plays throughout the duration of the game. That’s why they are having a great year with how productive he’s been. I definitely remember a lot of the plays (against us). I remember kind of being in control of that game for about 37-38 minutes and they got hot at the end, made some big plays. You look at the scoreboard, no time was left, and we lost. You really didn’t know how that happened.”
After giving up 81 points over the weekend to Penn State, an uncharacteristically bad performance by the UW defense, the Badgers responded by holding the Nittany Lions to 56 points, 38.6 percent shooting, 6-for-24 from 3-point range, zero fast-break points, and forced a turnover on 21 percent of their possessions three days later.
It's the way, Davison said, Wisconsin must play from this point forward, considering six of its final eight games are against teams either currently in first place in the conference or within 2.5 games of the top spot.
“We are ready for (Illinois),” Davison said. “It’s how our defense is built, to try and take advantage of a team like this. We want to make sure that we go out there and play our ball and dictate what they can to do.”
