So, this was the team picked to finish 10th in the Big Ten conference?

After a sterling comeback against Texas A&M Monday and hanging on to outlast No.12 Houston Tuesday, the University of Wisconsin won its first Maui Invitational title by grinding past St. Mary’s, 61-55, at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas.

Sophomore Johnny Davis scored 11 of his game-high 20 points over the final 7:49, junior Tyler Wahl added 18 points, five rebounds, and four blocks and the Badgers (5-1) wiped out a 10-point deficit early in the second half.

St. Mary’s (6-1) put three players in double figures, but the Gaels shot 32.0 percent in the second half while committing 16 turnovers.

We take a closer look at the championship game in the BadgerBlitz Stat Pack

- Wisconsin shot 37.5 percent for the game but shot 44.4 percent in the second half. UW also went 16-for-18 from the free-throw line.

- In addition to Davis and Davison, Wisconsin got six points from Chucky Hepburn, five points from Lorne Bowman, and four points each from Steven Crowl, Brad Davison, and Carter Gilmore.

- One big difference in the game was turnovers. UW had eight turnovers (three in the second half), while St. Mary’s committed 16 turnovers.

- Wisconsin led for just 5:30 of game time, including the last 5:12 of the game.

-After scoring 21 points Monday and 30 points on Tuesday, Davis stayed hot with scoring UW’s first six points. He had a team-high nine points at halftime but only attempted two shots in the final 13:59.

- While Davis carried the offense at the start, the Gaels hit the Badgers with their balance. With four players in their starting lineup averaging between 11.3 and 9.8 points per game, the Gaels had four different players score through the first five minutes and began shooting 5-for-7 from the floor.

- The Gaels scored 14 of their first 17 points in the paint and got a lot of those from their guards. 6-foot-2 Logan Johnson delivered six of those points with three layups.

- UW didn’t shoot well over the first 12 minutes (30.4 percent) but the Badgers trailed only 20-17 because of their work on the offensive glass. UW had six offensive rebounds that resulted in six second-chance points.

- The first half started to get away from Wisconsin late when the Badgers committed an uncharacteristic three turnovers in 71 seconds, two coming off offensive fouls. UW was in the midst of going six minutes without a field goal and three minutes without a point to allow the Gaels to build a six-point lead, the largest of the game.

- St. Mary’s Johnson drove the lane and hit a layup at the buzzer, a play indicative of the first half. The Gaels scored 20 of their 31 first-half points in the paint, going 9-for-11 on layups and dunks.

- UW shot 31 percent in the first half and didn’t make a 3-point attempt. The Gaels shot 52.0 percent. The field goal percentage continued to drop after halftime, as Wisconsin started 2-for-12 to fall behind by 10.

- Going scoreless in the first half, Bowman came off the bench with five points in three possessions. It was the spark the offense needed. Davison hit his first bucket – a 3-pointer – at 12:51 and Crowl hit a turnaround jumper in the post a possession later. It was a 10-2 run for Wisconsin, which delivered a block and a jump ball on the ensuing defensive possession heading into the under-12 timeout.

- After four minutes of offensive fouls and mostly empty possessions, Davis returned to his dominant scoring form. He dropped nine straight points for the Badgers, including five straight points off Gaels turnovers. His 3-pointer gave UW a 48-46 lead with 5:12 remaining, a huge shot that occurred because Davison chased down his own missed 3-pointer and fed the ball to Davis on the elbow.

- Both offenses turned from comatose to red hot the final 3:06. With UW leading 50-46, the two teams traded scoring on six consecutive possessions, but Wahl hit a huge 2-point jumper with 51.4 seconds left. He was doubled down on St. Mary’s next possession, blocking Dan Fotu near the basket, drawing a foul on the rebound and hitting two free throws to put UW up 59-53. St. Mary’s didn’t get closer than four the final 27 seconds.

- Having a week off prior to the Maui Invitational, Wisconsin will have another week off before flying to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Tipoff on Dec.1 is set for 8:15 p.m. CT on ESPN2.