The national player of the year trophy won’t be awarded until the Final Four in April. Johnny Davis might want to consider clearing his calendar for a trip to New Orleans, unless, of course, he’s carried his team along with him to play a couple games.

Wisconsin’s super sophomore added another virtuoso road performance to his candidacy Tuesday night, scoring 30 points, including the Badgers’ final 13 over the last four three-plus minutes, to deliver a 74-69 victory over Indiana at Assembly Hall.

“That's what player of the year candidates do,” head coach Greg Gard quipped. “I’m not trading him for anybody. I’ll tell you that. That is what MVP’s do. When the game is on the line, they show up and they perform when the lights are the brightest.”

Davis has been doing it all season long for No.15 Wisconsin (20-5, 11-4 Big Ten), which clinched a winning conference record for the 20th time in the last 22 seasons. It’s his third game with at least 30 points, his eighth scoring at least 25 points, and his fifth double-double of the season. All three of those 30-point games have come away from home and Davis is averaging 23.6 points in 12 games away from home this season.

Here are my five takeaways from Wisconsin’s win at Assembly Hall, giving the Badgers their 23rd win over Indiana in the last 26 meetings.

Davis had been “easing” into the last three games, which has been both good and bad for Wisconsin’s offense. He was 0-for-4 in 18 first-half minutes against Penn State, had seven points on four shots at Michigan State, and five points on four shots against Rutgers. He had just four points the first 16 minutes Tuesday, but the Badgers lead 32-31 at halftime because Davis caught fire.

Davis scored seven points on UW’s final five possessions, the first bucket started with a pump fake at the 3-point line, putting the ball on the deck and finishing through traffic for a left-handed layup. He made two free throws after drawing a foul driving into the paint and hit a deep step-back jumper on the next possession to tie the game at 31. He put the Badgers in the lead after gaining position on a block out for an offensive rebound, making 1 of 2 free throws.

"Trey (Galloway) struggled with Davis,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. “Everybody struggled with Johnny ... He had a helluva game. He's that type of player.”

He did the same thing down the stretch in the second half with his 13 points, driving in the lane to finish at the rim, pulling up for a jumper, or drawing a foul.

“It’s just good to have coach and teammates that believe in me to be able to take and make those tough shots late in the game,” Davis said. “I was feeling it tonight, and they just did a good job of finding me.”

If there’s a better player in college than Davis this season, I haven’t seen them.

Brad Davison’s last four games offensively were nightmarish: 10-for-45 overall and 4-for-28 from 3-point range. In Saturday’s loss to Rutgers, Davison was 3-for-13 from the field and just 1-for-9 from 3-point range. Speaking to Davison’s fiancée, former Indiana guard and current Milwaukee assistant coach, Tyra Buss for Monday’s story, I asked her about what she said to Davison prior to tonight.

“I keep telling him to stop thinking about it and just go out and play,” she said. “His time is winding down to be able to wear a Wisconsin basketball jersey. He needs his focus to be on going out there, having fun with his team. He impacts the game in so many different ways other than shooting the basketball, and I remind him of that. He’s a shooter, and one of the best, so he needs to play with that confidence.”

It's obvious that he listened to his lady.

He missed his first two shots but went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the first 10 minutes. That appeared to open the door for him. He had nine points with only one made field goal in the first half but was 3-for-7 with 12 points in the second half, including a huge in-rhythm 3-pointer with 5:34 remaining. Despite going 4-for-11, Davison’s 21 points were his highest total since Jan.27.

“It always helps to see the ball go in, but personally my confidence comes from my routine and from my preparation,” Davison said. “The amount of time that I put into the game. I’ve made a lot of shots in my career, so I choose to think about those ones when (the ball is) not going in.”

Davison did more than score, as the senior added seven rebounds, two assists, a team-best two steals, and just one turnover.

If there’s one thing people try to razz Gard about (since they are running out of things to pick on him with), it’s that he doesn’t make enough adjustments when things aren’t going well offensively or defensively. Well, the last minute of the game should quiet that crowd.

Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis led the charge in the low post for the Hoosiers. Twenty of the first 26 points scored for Indiana were in the paint, as the Hoosiers finished with 38 points inside. Jackson-Davis was the wrecking crew by equaling Davis’s 30 points, as well as adding eight rebounds, and six assists.

"I feel like he came out with a little more of an edge just because of the way we beat them at home," Davis said. "He is a great player. He is tough to stop down there in the low post."

So, with the Badgers leading by two, UW went to a lane-packing zone to dare the Hoosiers to shoot a mid-range or perimeter jump shot. Indiana was 5-for-14 on 3-point shots, but the plan worked because the Hoosiers missed a pair of open perimeter shots without getting an offensive rebound. UW switched back to man once the lead was three, but the Hoosiers missed those two perimeter shots, too.

It may have been incidental contact but because it was to the head (and who was making the contact, perhaps), Davison was assessed a flagrant-1 foul with 12:10 remaining that put the Hoosiers up 52-45. Indiana could have really dug a deep deficit for UW, but Davison – in true fashion – drew a charge to end the position and the Badgers went on an 11-4 run to tie the game.

With 1:12 remaining, the officiating crew ruled Indiana’s basketball before going to the monitors for an official review. Replays showed that Steven Crowl successfully saved the ball to Davison with his outstretched hand before stepping out of bounds.

The extra possession turned into Davis’s 3-point play with 1:01 remaining that put UW ahead for good, part of Davis's 8-0 run to end the game.

Getting to the free throw line has been in Wisconsin’s DNA for decades but has been an issue for this team at points this season. Entering the night, the Badgers had attempted fewer than 20 free throws in six of the last seven games. Making them had also been an issue, too, as the Badgers missed eight in their eight-point win at Michigan State and eight in their eight-point loss to Rutgers.

UW went 22-for-29 from the line against the Hoosiers, the largest because of Davis and Davison. Both players drew nine fouls, helping Davison go 10-for-10 and Davis going 10-for-14. It was a good night because Chris Vogt, who was 33.3 percent from the line in Big Ten play, went 2-for-2 on his attempts.

“We needed all of them in a game like that, in a hostile environment against a really good team,” Davison said. “You got to take advantage of every opportunity you get. That was a goal, to get there and convert a high rate. We’ll take all those points.”

_________________________________________________

*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