MADISON — 22 seconds had passed.

After winning the tip-off against Ohio State’s Felix Okpara, Badgers forward Steven Crowl was looking for an opening on the perimeter.

Max Klesmit got in the way of Okpara, leaving Crowl open at the top of the 3-point line. Without hesitation, Crowl quickly shot, and scored. It was Wisconsin’s quickest 3-pointer of the season, and the first that Crowl made in two-and-a-half weeks.

More than that, it was a sign that the Badgers were aware of what they needed to do to break their four-game losing streak.

“Typically, if you want to increase your shooting percentage, whether individually or as a team, is to evaluate the quality of your shots,” coach Greg Gard said after the win over Ohio State. “And we’ve taken too many bad shots in the previous three games, and the back half of the Nebraska game, too.”

This first possession set the tone for the rest of the game. The Badgers weren’t going to play as if they were afraid of losing a fifth straight. If they saw a shot they liked, they took it, without a second thought.

“I’m not telling guys don’t shoot, because I don’t wanna scare guys into not being aggressive,” Gard said.

Wisconsin’s performance on Tuesday felt completely different than their previous few. They played with an aggression and confidence that seemed to have evaporated during the prior week’s road trip.

Their shooting had suffered the most during that stretch. Over the three previous losses, they shot a combined 13-59, or 22.1%, from beyond the arc. They were shooting 35.8% on the season prior to that.

It took until the end of the first half for the Badgers to take control, and they still had to fend off a late rally from the bottom-of-the-conference Buckeyes in the final minutes. But above all, Wisconsin began to resemble the team that started the season 16-4.

Gard noted that the key to improving their shooting was playing through the post.

“I think the thing that changed, or was better tonight, was that we played more through the post. So you’re getting higher quality looks from 3,” he said after the game.

Their improvement down low can be directly connected to the reemergence of Crowl.

There was at least one common denominator in all four of Wisconsin’s consecutive losses — Crowl was nowhere to be found.

He struggled with fouls in the first three losses, finishing with four in each game. But even when he was on the court, Crowl wasn’t very impactful on offense.

Throughout the losing streak, he scored just 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting from the field. His early 3-pointer was a signal that Wisconsin’s anchor down low had woken up. He went on to score 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Beyond his paint presence, Crowl plays an underrated part in their shooting success. Through the first two months of the season, or first 15 games, he shot 12-20 from 3. In the 10 games since, he’s made just four of his 16 attempts

His performance Tuesday could ultimately be a sign of some much-needed positive regression.

However, the shooting success, like most aspects of Wisconsin’s offense, will largely depend on their best player.

“I thought tonight we did a better job of [taking quality shots], specifically A.J. [Storr],” Gard said. “I thought he was really disciplined in his approach, and that shows growth and that he’s listening.”

Gard admired Storr’s discipline after a night in which he only shot one 3-pointer and nine field goals — the least he’s taken in almost a month. It could've been a not-so-subtle sign that Gard prefers a lighter approach from Storr, which isn’t a total surprise after his recent stretch.

During the four-game losing streak, Storr collectively shot 27-for-67, for a solid 40%. Yet those performances captured the Storr experience so far, for better and for worse.

In two of those games, against Nebraska and Michigan, he scored 20-plus points and shot over 50% each night. Yet in the other two games, he failed to even reach 32%.

The Badgers are 14-2 when Storr takes 14 shots or less, and 3-6 otherwise. On his good days, he looks like the best player that Gard’s ever coached, but it doesn’t really matter if he plays sloppy hero ball every other game.

This year’s Badger team, like most during Gard’s tenure, are at their best when the entire rotation is confidently taking quality shots, not just one or a few players.

It’ll take a collective team effort if they hope to permanently escape their early-February slump.

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