Five Takeaways from No.11 Wisconsin's 66-60 Win Over Minnesota

MADISON, Wis. – It was another case of a misleading record for Greg Gard.

In his scout work preparing for Minnesota, Wisconsin’s head coach saw a team battling through injuries and COVID to be a tough out in a competitive league. Throw in the border-rivalry component, UW on a shorter prep, and a Sunday noon tipoff, Gard was prepared for a grind.

Good thing his team has become used to those types of games.

No.11 Wisconsin was unsuccessful in trying to run away from Minnesota, but the Badgers got critical plays down the stretch from two of their All-Big Ten players in a 66-60 victory over the Gophers.

The Badgers (17-3, 8-2 Big Ten) are now 10-1 in games decided by six points or fewer, a big reason why they enter the second half of the conference season in a tie for first place with Illinois. Those two schools will face each other for the only time Wednesday in Champaign.

Here are my five takeaways from UW’s 19th win in 21 meetings against Minnesota (11-7, 2-7) in the Kohl Center.

Johnny Davis had a season-worst 13 points in Thursday’s win at Nebraska, a somewhat ironic statement considering the number of players who would take a 13-point, 9-rebound game any day of the week. Davis had 16 points Sunday, his sixth-lowest scoring game of the season, but it was a performance that should rank right up there with the Maui Invitational semifinal and the victory at No.3 Purdue this season when talking about his brilliance and his ability to carry a team.

Davis scored the game’s final six points over the last 130 seconds, breaking a 60-60 tie and avoiding a third disappointing home loss of the season.

Davis hadn’t scored in almost 15 minutes when the Gophers tied the game with 2:23 to go. The sophomore had only taken three shots in that stretch, too, but calmly probed the defense at the top of the key before attacking the left side of the lane and finishing at the left block with his left hand.

The next trip down the court, Davis weaved through traffic to secure Steven Crowl’s 3-point miss and ended the possession by drawing contact near the baseline and getting to the free-throw line with 55.8 remaining, splitting the pair.

After another empty Minnesota possession and a 16-second difference between shot and game block, the Gophers decided against fouling and relied on their defense to make a stand. Davis blew that plan up when he drove to the lane and faded away on a jumper over Willis with 23.4 seconds left that sealed the win.

And if his 16 points (7-for-14 shooting) wasn't enough, Davis had a career-high 15 rebounds to help the Badgers finish plus-2 on the glass (32-20).

“He’s the best player in the country,” senior Brad Davison said of his teammate. “When the game is on the line, we have a lot of confidence in him to make the right decision. Whether it’s go get a bucket, find somebody or get a stop, we’re really thankful to have him on our team. He does a lot of good things at the end of games, but throughout all the games.”

Davis’s offense couldn’t do it alone, which is where Tyler Wahl comes into play. Showing he’s getting closer to being 100 percent with his injured right ankle, Wahl – Wisconsin’s most versatile defender – contested two different types of shots from two double-figure scorers to keep the Gophers scoreless in the final minutes.

After Davis's first bucket, Wahl was squarely in the face of Payton Willis (18 points) on a 3-point look that ended the possession. Next trip down the court, Wahl stayed square on E.J. Stephens in the lane to prevent a clean look.

Wahl was fresh after sitting for four minutes with four fouls, which helped considering his minutes are still limited as he works his way back from an ankle injury suffered on January 18.

While playing in a low-post rotation with fellow starter Crowl and bench players Ben Carlson and Chris Vogt, Wahl was in attack mode during his 13 first-half minutes and rewarded himself with 10 points. He scored six of those points on layups and another two on free throws after attacking the paint. Of UW’s 60 points, half were scored in the paint as were 18 of UW’s 32 first-half points.

When a team has three players who are playing at an All-Big Ten level (Davison played a team-high 38 minutes and scored 14 points Sunday), it’s easy for a player like Crowl to get lost in the shuffle. His performance over the last month deserves otherwise.

Crowl had 11 points but scored five of those when Wahl was on the bench during that late four-minute stretch. They were cheapies either, hitting a left-handed hookshot just below the foul line and splashing a 3-pointer.

Over the last seven games, Crowl is averaging 10.3 points on 60.9 percent shooting and going 6-for-15 on 3-point shots.

“He’s been playing great down the stretch,” Wahl said of Crowl. “We ask a lot of him … He’s exceeding expectations, doing a great job both offensively and defensively.”

In a combined 36 minutes on the floor, UW’s five reserves scored five points and those all came from Lorne Bowman. In the last eight games, UW’s reserves are averaging just 6.8 points and have only scored in double figures twice in that span. The minutes for the reserves have been consistent in that 30, 40 range but the offense obviously hasn’t.

After a nice surge in December, Vogt has been held scoreless the last three games and scored a total of 16 points in eight January games. He was a team-worst minus-7 against the Gophers. Carlson was scoreless after consecutive solid offensive performances, while forward Carter Gilmore and guard Jahcobi Neath appear to be in offensive funks.

UW has two good examples of how different its team looks without a key component and the results have not been pretty. While Gard told the media he thought the bench gave him “some good minutes,” with due respect, if there’s one area that can hold this team back currently, it’s the offensive meekness of the five-man reserve rotation.

There were multiple moments where Wisconsin teased that it was about to pull away. The Badgers went up by 10 in the first half, only to have the Gophers promptly respond with a 9-0 run. UW led by nine five separate times in the second half, the latest being with 6:18 remaining, only to have the offense dry up, Minnesota respond with timely buckets or a combination of both.

If the Gophers had been their usual stingy self with the ball, the final score might have been different. Minnesota was one of the best teams in the country in limiting miscues, ranked second in the country in fewest turnovers (159) and sixth in turnovers per game (9.4). Minnesota had five turnovers in less than five minutes at the start, seven for the first half and 11 for the game. Three of those turnovers were offensive fouls.

Wisconsin scored 13 points off those turnovers and finished plus-7 in that department, as the Gophers only scored four off UW’s seven miscues. Wahl had three turnovers, two of which came in the first 3:24.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @JakeKoco, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45

*Like us on Facebook