Five Takeaways from No.13 Wisconsin's 68-67 Win at Minnesota

The University of Wisconsin has won all sorts of different ways this season. Wednesday’s 68-67 victory at Minnesota was another one.

While winning a close game and being victorious on the road is nothing new for the Badgers (22-5, 13-4 Big Ten) this season, (they now have a 13-game winning streak in games decided by six points or less), being able to pull away in the closing minutes without their best player on the floor was something completely different.

It's the reason why Wisconsin’s 11th road/neutral win of the season is something to savor, along with beating Minnesota (13-13, 4-13) for a fourth straight time and extending its dominance to 13 of the last 15 meetings.

Here are my five takeaways from Wisconsin’s victory at Williams Arena.

So much of Wisconsin’s success this season has been tied to Johnny Davis. Not only is he the only Big Ten player to lead his team in points (20.9), rebounds (8.3), and assists (2.3), the sophomore has consistently delivered the knockout punch in crunch time. Just last month, Davis scored the final six points in UW’s 66-60 win over Minnesota in Madison.

Davis (12 pts, 9 rebounds) picked up an offensive foul for his fourth with 2:50 remaining, which was a cause for concern, and him getting caught reaching in on Payton Willis for his fifth foul on the next trip down the floor created an unexplored void. UW found out that with Davis watching, there were guys ready to step up to the plate.

With the game tied at 62, the Badgers got a layup from Jordan Davis (more on him below) to take a two-point lead and, after a defensive stop, Steven Crowl beat the shot clock with a high hook shot off the glass with 1:19 remaining, a backbreaker for the Gophers.

“I heard some of the guys, I think it was Brad, he has the loudest voice out there, he was yelling five, four,” said Crowl, referring to the shot clock. “I knew I had to get the shot up and they were taking the middle away, so I just went back baseline. Fortunately, it went in off the glass. That’s not always the case.”

Brad Davison – Wisconsin’s best free-throw shooter at 88.9 percent – calmly sunk two free throws in front of the students on the next possession, giving the Badgers a four-point lead it would not relinquish over the final 18 seconds.

“Obviously we’d like to have Johnny on the floor, I think most teams in the country would, but just seeing that we can get it done when he’s in foul trouble was big for us,” Crowl said. “It was nice finishing the game out and getting the win.”

Minnesota took away Wisconsin’s perimeter and dared Wisconsin to beat them in the low post. A couple of Minnesota forwards delivered.

Crowl entered the game averaging 9.2 points. He had 10 points and three rebounds by the 11:10 mark, which set the table for a 20-point, 7-rebound night. He scored 10 points in each half to finish with a career-high for a Big Ten game.

“At the start of the game they had (Eric) Curry on me and (Jamison) Battle on Tyler, so that put me in position to be down low a little more and I took advantage a little bit,” said Crowl, who finished 7-for-9 from the field and 5-for-6 from the line.

Over the last six games, Crowl is averaging 11.8 ppg and shooting 65.9 percent (27-41), including 7-13 from 3-point range.

Tyler Wahl had a personal 6-0 run in the first half by backing down players in the low post, leading to a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds (six offensive), and three assists.

Wahl started the second half by breaking up a handoff between Curry and Battle, resulting in a steal and dunk. That turned out to be the only points he scored, as Curry smothered Wahl and held him to only two shot attempts. Minnesota couldn’t keep him off the boards, however, as he had eight rebounds in the second half.

“Tyler is a jack-of-all trades for us,” head coach Greg Gard said. “He does more than what they put in the stat sheet for us. Obviously, those offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive were important.”

It’s not the first time Crowl and Wahl played off each other against the Gophers. The duo combined for 26 points in the 66-60 January win in Madison, including Crowl scoring five critical points when Wahl was on the bench during a four-minute stretch.

“This group has continued to grow,” Gard said. “We’re in late February and Steven Crowl is still getting better. Tyler Wahl is getting better.”

And just imagine how good those two will be with another year in Wisconsin’s weight room.

With Jahcobi Neath serving a one-game suspension and Lorne Bowman missing a second consecutive game with a non-COVID illness, Jordan Davis was the lone scholarship guard on UW’s bench. As UW went through practice Tuesday and shootaround, Gard noticed that he had a little extra bounce to him. That proved vital.

He slashed to the rim in the first half and finished in the lane, giving him his first basket since January 9 and his first two-point shot since December 11. He was just getting started with timely baskets. When UW struggled mightily to start the second half (five turnovers in the first nine possessions), Davis hit a contested 3-pointer to put the Badgers up 47-44. When his twin fouled out, Davis cut to the basket and finished a layup after Davison delivered him a bounce pass.

As good as his offense was, Davis was active defensively and learned on the fly, especially when he played the four for the first time. On Minnesota’s final turnover, coming with nine seconds left, Davis swiping at the ball caused it to go off Battle’s hands at out of bounds

“He came in, gave (the defense) all of his effort, and shut guys down when he was in the game,” Crowl said.

Playing a career-high 20 minutes, Davis had a career-high seven points (3-for-3) with two rebounds, two assists, and no turnovers. When he was on the floor, UW outscored Minnesota by 11.

“I was really proud of Jordan," Gard said. "I thought he really took advantage of the opportunities, made plays when he needed to, was solid defensively, rebounded, was engaged in the game … He’s a great kid, works hard, and happy that he could have this type of performance.”

Having a clear plan to attack Minnesota on the glass, especially considering the Gophers were last in the Big Ten in rebounding on both the defensive and offensive glass, Wisconsin enjoyed its best rebounding margin in February.

Wisconsin out-rebounded Minnesota, 38-19, including a 10-4 on the offensive glass. That led to an 11-5 advantage in second-chance points. One huge play late in the game added to that total.

Leading by two, freshman Chucky Hepburn missed a high-percentage layup at the rim, but Wahl got a hand on the rebound and batted the ball out to Davison on the perimeter. UW was able to run five seconds off the clock, call timeout, and watch Davison bury both attempts.

“It’s hustle opportunities,” Gard said. “It’s effort plays. You talk about technique in rebounding, but a lot of it comes down to effort. Those two guys, I thought, did a great job with the effort part of it. Those ones that Tyler came up with were big as we came down the stretch.”

Wisconsin also finished with a 36-20 edge in points in the paint.

Minnesota and Wisconsin combined for 13 team fouls in the first half. The two had 16 in the first 11 minutes in the second half, 10 from the Badgers, and finished with a combined 25 fouls in the second half. Between the fouls and extra whistles for jump balls, the Badgers managed to keep a decent rhythm and shoot 45 percent from the floor.

The same can’t be said for the Gophers, which shot 39.1 percent in the second half.

“You go from the first half where not many fouls are called to the second half where you’re stopping every two times down the court,” Crowl said. “Once you do get a rhythm and there’s a whistle, it kind of sucks because it’s stopping your rhythm. I think it has a big impact on how the game is played for both teams.”

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