Greg Gard reflected that Wisconsin’s slow start Monday afternoon could be caused by some of the young members of his team being consumed by the moment, playing in one of the premier nonconference basketball tournaments in the country on national television. One day later, it was the start – and sophomore guard Johnny Davis - that made all the difference.

Building a lead as big as 20 points proved critical, as the Badgers survived a 65-63 nail-biter against No.12 Houston in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational at Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas.

Davis scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Badgers (5-1), who beat a ranked team for the first time since Dec.31, 2020. In a rematch of the 2019 Sioux Falls Showcase, Wisconsin will play St. Mary’s (6-0) in Wednesday’s championship game (4 p.m./ESPN).

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

- Wisconsin shot 46.9 percent from the field, 7-for-24 from 3-point range and 12-for-15 from the free-throw line.

- In addition to Davis’s heroic effort, the Badgers got nine points from Tyler Wahl (all in the second half), nine from Brad Davison, eight from Steven Crowl, four from Ben Carlson, three from Chucky Hepburn, and two from Lorne Bowman.

- Houston guard Marcus Sasser – the team’s leading scorer at 19.8 points per game – scored just 11 points on 4-for-12 shooting. Guard Kyler Edwards led the Cougars with 18 points.

-A day after Wisconsin dug itself a 16-4 hole to open the game, the Badgers jumped to a 13-0 start against Houston just 4:26 into the game. Not facing the frenetic pressure that the Aggies threw at them, the Badgers had crisper ball movement that led to four assists on their first five field goals (three 3-pointers).

- By the 14:14 mark, Davis has 11 points (3-for-3 on 3-pointers), blocked two shots, and drew two fouls.

- Houston went into the under-12 timeout just 2-for-10 from the field with three turnovers, leading to a 17-4 deficit.

- The break between timeouts did nothing to settle Houston. The Badgers went on a 7-0 run heading into the under-8 timeout to lead 24-7. Wisconsin limited the Cougars to 1-for-9 from the field and no points for 3:39. The final points on that run was a 3-pointer by Crowl, putting him up to eight points and marking the fifth 3-pointer of the first half.

- Crowl and Chris Vogt both were on the bench for the final 5:15 with two fouls each, forcing the Badgers to put Carlson at the five. It was that exact situation that hurt the Badgers down the first-half stretch against Providence last week. Although he was beaten on a low-post spin move that led to a 3-point play opportunity, Carlson was more composed and more productive, scoring two points and delivering a perfect pass to a cutting Davis for a two-handed slam.

- With Crowl on the bench, the Badgers closed the first half on a 14-8 run that included Houston making no field goals over the last 3:42.

- UW led 40-20 at halftime, shooting 57.1 percent from the field while holding the Cougars to 25.9 percent. The Badgers hit 7 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes (one fewer than they hit against Texas A&M the game before) and had a 10-to-3 assist-to-turnover ratio.

- The Cougars made a push over the first four minutes in the second half, utilizing a 10-0 run to cut the lead in half. All three of Houston’s made baskets were 3-pointers. While the Badgers didn’t help themselves with six consecutive misses, Davison airballed two 3-pointers and Hepburn’s rushed 3-pointer led to a breakout for Houston.

- UW stopped the bleeding thanks to Tyler Wahl, who hadn’t scored in the game until he delivered three great low-post baskets in four possessions. He scored backing down his defender with a left-handed layup, hit a jumper as the double team closed in on him, and nailed a fadeaway near the baseline as the shot clock expired. Those shots gave UW a 48-34 lead with 11:35 remaining.

-Houston had cut the lead to single digits for the first time since the 14:25 mark in the first half, but Davis does a simple shot fake, drives the lane to draw the defense, and Wahl converted a 3-point play.

- The Cougars put together a 13-4 run after Wahl’s basket to trim the lead to three, the smallest it had been since the opening minutes.

- Davis delivered one of the bigger plays of the game when he anticipated a pass coming to the top of the key and finished with a massive dunk at the other end. Instead of Houston cutting the lead to as little as two, UW led 59-52 with 4:17 remaining.

- Houston had a chance to tie the game, but Sasser missed a 3-pointer and Davis hauled in the offensive rebound. He was fouled and hit two free throws at the other end to give him 30. More importantly, the Badgers led 65-60 with 45.2 left.

- The Cougars had a chance to win the game with five seconds left, rebounding a Davis missed jumper, but lost track of time and were unable to get a shot off.

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