MADISON, Wis. – Chucky Hepburn was having the best statistical season of his young career, but the University of Wisconsin point guard was miserable. The sophomore leader of the Badgers felt like the captain of the Titanic, unable to rescue a flawed roster that lost 12 of 18 games to miss the NCAA Tournament.

A year older and wiser, and seeing his team again start slipping after a promising start, Hepburn wasn’t willing to go down that path again.

“We went through that same stretch last year and I didn’t want the same thing to happen again,” Hepburn said. “I knew a leader needed to step up and I knew that it had to be me coming from the point guard.”

There are many reasons why Wisconsin (22-13) is heading back to the NCAA Tournament, officially ending a one-year absence Friday night when it plays James Madison (31-3) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. (8:40 p.m./CT).

The Badgers became a more efficient offensive team with the addition of A.J. Storr (16.9 ppg) from the transfer portal, getting a full year of health from senior Tyler Wahl (10.8 ppg) and Max Klesmit (9.7), and having better depth off the bench.

But it’s been Hepburn’s willingness to throttle back his scoring that has opened production for others while increasing his efficiency. Averaging 2.9 points per game less, Hepburn is shooting .431 percent overall (up from .377), .520 from two-point range (up from .357), averaging 3.9 assists (up from 2.8) with a 3.33 assist-to-turnover ratio (up from 1.9) that is sixth best in the nation among major conference players.

All that has led to Wisconsin’s highest-scoring output in 30 years.

“He’s getting better as a player,” head coach Greg Gard said. “How good he is in ball screens right now with pinching guys off, specifically in drop coverages. We’ve done more ball screens this year than maybe the last 20-some years combined because of how we’ve shifted things offensively. He’s gotten really good at it. You don’t see him taking those hoist shots at the end of shot clocks anymore. He’s inside the paint. He’s got a mid-range game, a little floater he’s working on, he’s more assertive.”

A synonym for assertive is aggressive, which is how best to describe Hepburn’s shift as the NCAA Tournament drew nearer. Hitting double figures three times from December to mid-February, Hepburn hit that mark in seven of his last 10 games.

Even while dealing with a lower-body injury, causing him to miss UW’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal win over Northwestern, Hepburn averaged 17.3 points per game on 69.0 percent shooting (20-for-29 FG), while responsible for 17 assists to three turnovers.

“It was hard to find out during the season what my role was, but as the season went on, I got the feel for the game,” Hepburn said. “You get that feel for the game, you flip that switch real easily. That’s what I was able to do over the weekend. I found a lot of confidence in myself doing that. It gives me a lot of confidence going into March Madness.”

More directly, when asked to describe his attack-mode mindset in Minneapolis, Hepburn was to the point.

“Thirsty for blood,” Hepburn said. “That’s all I got to say. Thirsty for blood.”

Hepburn spoke multiple times Tuesday of being unsatisfied with simply making the tournament, a statement rooted partly in competitive desire and unfinished business after how his last tournament ended. Playing as a three seed in Milwaukee, Hepburn suffered an ankle injury late in the first half that knocked him out of Wisconsin’s second-round game against Iowa State.

When Hepburn was on the floor, Wisconsin was 8-for-17. When he was watching from the locker room or on the bench with a boot on, the Badgers were 6-for-30. Not only did UW lose, 54-49, it committed a season-high 17 turnovers (after leading the nation at only 8.3 per game) from their disheveled rotation.

“That was definitely hard, going out like that, not being able to fight with my brothers,” Hepburn said of 2022’s tournament. “Definitely tough but I’m more experienced. I’m just trying to take it one game at a time, prepare my body for this tournament this week, and we hope to make a long run in this tournament.”

Gard thought three teams (No.1 seeds Connecticut, Houston, and Purdue) were the only ones who avoided an extended skid. Losing six of eight in February wasn’t fun in the moment, but it was a stretch that allowed UW to flush bad tendencies, rebuild a defensive foundation, and find a rhythm.

Or in Hepburn’s case, a voice.

“With assertiveness with your voice can come assertiveness with your play,” Gard said. “His voice was starting to come. He was really starting to really take charge of things. Sometimes you need to be in some adverse situations to really force that to come out. He’s done a great job of that and his play has backed it up.”

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