It was a near-perfect 20 minutes of defensive basketball for No.23 Wisconsin.
Playing against one of the most explosive and efficient offenses in the country, the Badgers gave No.3 Purdue fits on the ball, in the paint, and on the perimeter, a trio of successes that had them jog into the visitor’s locker room up five at halftime.
The fact that the Boilermakers came up clicking offensively in the second and the Badgers still weathered the storm for a momentum victory is impressive - thanks to the magician known as Johnny Davis.
Delivering a career-high 37 points to go along with 14 rebounds, two blocks, and two steals, Davis and Wisconsin knocked off the Boilermakers, 74-69, in front of a stunned crowd at Mackey Arena Monday as Big Ten play resumed for both teams.
Winning against the Boilers in Mackey Arena for the first time since January 2014, Wisconsin (11-2, 2-1 Big Ten) overcame its top three forwards fouling out in the second half and a career-high 24 points from 7-4 center Zach Edey to register its highest-ranked road victory since 2016.
We take a closer look at the game in the BadgerBlitz StatPack.
- Behind Davis, the Badgers got 13 points from Brad Davison that included two critical 3-pointers late in the second half and a pair of free throws in the final seconds.
- Other UW scorers include Tyler Wahl (6), Steven Vogt (6), Chucky Hepburn (5), Steven Crowl (4), and Jahcobi Neath (1). The Badgers shot 45 percent overall and 6-for-24 from the 3-point line.
- Purdue (12-2, 1-2) got 14 points from leading scorer Jaden Ivey, who was limited to 22 minutes because of foul trouble. The Boilermakers were held to 41.1 percent shooting.
- The Badgers were outrebounded 40-34 but matched the Boilers with 28 points in the paint. UW also had four fewer offensive rebounds than Purdue (13-9) but matched them with 12 second-chance points.
- Wisconsin trailed 8-6 at the first media timeout and was just 3-for-10 from the field, but the Badgers' three baskets came in the paint, a necessary area UW established early against the Boilermakers’ lengthy frontcourt.
- After the game was turnover-free for the first seven-plus minutes, the Badgers registered steals on consecutive possessions that led to Davis baskets on breakout opportunities. When Davis hit a second-chance jumper on the possession following the timeout, Davis had eight points and UW was on an 11-2 run to lead 13-10.
- An offensive foul by Ivey drawn by Davison drew boos from the home crowd but it was a big play that put the junior guard, and Purdue’s leading scorer, on the bench with two fouls for the final 9:55 of the first half.
- Wisconsin missed its first nine 3-point attempts until Hepburn hit one with 5:09 remaining to give the Badgers a 21-17 lead. He was the seventh different Badger to score in the first half.
- Purdue called timeout to draw up a play for the final shot of the half, but Hepburn had other ideas. He stole the ball from Isaiah Thompson and after out-diving him on the floor to gain possession, Hepburn passed the ball to a sprinting Davis for a one-handed dunk and a 29-24 halftime lead.
- UW held Purdue to 31.8 percent shooting and only four points in the paint. The Badgers scored 18 points in the paint to make up for 1-for-12 shooting from the perimeter.
- Purdue didn’t screw around to start the second half, scoring seven points on its first three possessions to take a 31-29 lead. Ivey’s fresh legs made an impact, as he scored eight of Purdue’s first 10 points.
- The Boilers started 7-for-10 in the second half that included 4-for-5 from 3-point range. UW started 3-for-7 and committed two turnovers in three possessions and the deficit grew up to six
- In a span of 53 seconds, the Badgers’ top two forwards suffered their fourth foul – Crowl at 13:58 and Wahl at 13:15. Wahl stayed in the game and was a bystander when Vogt picked up his fourth foul with 12 minutes left. Following the media timeout, Gard rolled with Vogt and put Carter Gilmore in for Wahl.
- A 13-4 Purdue run suggested separation was coming, but the Badgers countered with Vogt delivering a 3-point play and Hepburn registering another steal that led to Davis points in the lane.
- The run grew to 11-1 with Davis hitting a 3-pointer to put Wisconsin back ahead, 52-50, with 9:04 remaining.
- Vogt committed his fifth foul with 8:17 remaining, which was the opening Edey needed. He scored eight of his points over the next four minutes from the foul line or the paint to put Purdue up, 62-60, at the final media timeout.
- Relatively quiet most of the night, Davison hit a pair of big 3-pointers, the second coming with 3:39 remaining, that put the Badgers up 65-62.
- Davis delivered two crushing blows on consecutive possession, hitting a 3-pointer on a cross-court pass from Davison to put the Badgers up 68-63 and then, thanks to a screen from Crowl, getting separation from guard Ethan Morton to hit a deep two-pointer to put UW up 70-63 with 1:01 remaining.
- Leading by three with the ball and 17.5 seconds, the Badgers got the ball to Davison and saw him fouled with 12.3 seconds left. The 84.4 percent free-throw shooter hit a pair.
- Purdue delivered a quick strike to Edey that cut the lead back to three with barely two seconds of the clock ticking off, but the Badgers avoided Purdue fouling and Davis delivered a dunk with six seconds left that clinched the win.
- Wisconsin improved to 6-42 all-time at Mackey Arena, having won its last two games in the building after knocking off North Carolina in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament.
- Wisconsin returns home to host Iowa on Thursday in the only meeting between the two teams this season. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be televised on FS1.
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