MADISON, Wis. – University of Wisconsin junior guard Brad Davison has been suspended one game and issued a public reprimand for violating the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy, the Big Ten announced Wednesday night.
Davison received a flagrant 1 personal foul with 32 seconds remaining in Wisconsin’s 68-62 loss at Iowa Monday night when he appeared to hit Iowa’s CJ McCaffery in the groin while chasing the ball handler around a screen.
The flagrant foul – issued after a video reviewed – gave Iowa two free throws and the ball, effectively ending UW’s chance at a comeback.
“He grabbed me right in the—where you don't want to be grabbed in,” McCaffery said about the play in question, per Mike Hlas of The Gazette. “He does that. He's marked for doing that. He's the type of player, unfortunately, who feels the need to do that stuff. Tonight, he cost them the game.”
The decision by the conference leaves Wisconsin two starters down when it hosts No.14 Michigan State Saturday afternoon. UW redshirt sophomore Kobe King announced his intentions to transfer earlier Wednesday.
“We expect all of our student-athletes to compete and play hard; however, they must always do so in a civil manner that is consistent with the rules of the game and in the spirit of good sportsmanship,” Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement. “We will not tolerate behavior that compromises the health and safety of our student-athletes or crosses the line of aggressive, competitive play, especially when a pattern of similar behavior has been previously established.”
The “previously-established” behavior has been attached to Davison for the past two seasons. He hit then-Marquette forward Joey Hauser in the groin last season (he was assessed a flagrant-1) and stuck his leg out during a Jordan Murphy rebound attempt in UW’s win at Minnesota last year. Davison – a Minnesota native – also appeared to trip Nate Mason during the 2017-18 season.
Having started all 21 games this season, Davison is averaging 8.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per contest.
