STAT PACK: Wisconsin Wins at Georgia Tech, 70-66, in Big Ten/ACC Challenge
What happens in Vegas did not stay in Vegas for the University of Wisconsin
Having a week to soak in its win in the Maui Invitational, the 23rd-ranked Badgers continued building momentum heading into Big Ten play with a 70-66 victory at Georgia Tech in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge at the McCamish Pavilion.
That’s four straight wins for Wisconsin (6-1), all coming away from the Kohl Center, and it was another victory where the Badgers seemingly didn’t wilt when struck with some adversity.
We take a closer look at the game in the BadgerBlitz Stat Pack.
- Senior Brad Davison delivered his finest performance of the season with a season-high 27 points. He was 9-for-16 from the field, 5-for-8 from 3-point range, and carried the offense in the second half with nine straight points during one stretch.
- Johnny Davis scored 15 points but was limited to only three points on four shots in the second half.
- The Badgers got additional scoring from Tyler Wahl (9 points), Chucky Hepburn (all 7 coming in the second half), Steven Crowl (5), Lorne Bowman (5) and Jahcobi Neath (2). Neath was playing in his first game since the season opener.
- Wisconsin shot 42.6 percent overall but 50 percent (14-for-28) in the second half. The Badgers also shot 37.5 percent from the 3-point line and a season-worst 68.2 percent (15-for-22) on free throws.
- Georgia Tech (5-2) got 33 points from Michael Devoe but the Yellow Jackets didn’t put another player in double figures.
- Georgia Tech enters the game ranked No. 3 in the ACC and No. 18 nationally in three-point percentage (41.1). The Yellow Jackets were 6-for-10 in the first half from the perimeter but 0-for-6 in the second to finish the game at 37.5%.
- Despite being outrebounded (36-28), Wisconsin held Georgia Tech to 41.5 percent shooting and outscored them in second-chance points (11-10).
- Wisconsin started 0-for-6 from the field (three misses coming from Crowl) and trailed 7-1. The Badgers quickly rebounded with an 11-3 run that was jumpstarted by consecutive triples by Davison and ended with a one-handed slam from Davis off his own steal.
- Other than a Bowman 3-pointer, the Badgers did little to put the ball in the basket over the next four minutes. UW was 1-for-6 from 2-point range over the first 10 minutes of the opening half against the Yellow Jackets 1-3-1 zone.
- Georgia Tech regained the lead at 17-15 thanks to its perimeter shooting. A top-20 team in 3-point percentage, Tech hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions off offensive rebounds and took advantage of UW in scramble mode.
- Heading into the under-8 timeout, Wisconsin went scoreless for 5 minutes, 17 seconds. The scoring streak ended at 5:41, but the field goal stretch lasted 7:57.
- The Badgers got into the bonus with 6:11 remaining, drawing fouls on three straight possessions, but Davis, Crowl and Davison each missed a free throw, with Davison's being the front end of the bonus. All three entered the night shooting above 85 percent from the line.
- While the Badgers got second-leading scorer Jordan Usher to the bench with three fouls for the final 7:20, the Badgers couldn’t get Khalid Moore to join him. Moore picked up his third at 5:04 but remained in the game, scoring points on consecutive possessions to put Tech up 25-20.
- The first half featured five ties and six lead changes, the last coming when Davis hit a 3-pointer in front of Devoe from the top of the key with four seconds left. That shot put UW up 32-31 at the break.
- Wisconsin got a combined 25 points from Davis and Davison in the opening half, as the pair shot 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) and 5-for-8 from the perimeter. The other eight players who played were 2-for-14 (1-for-6 from three). Overall, UW was 34.6 percent from the field.
- Devoe led all players with 17 points (6-for-10, 5-for-7 from three), but the senior didn’t have much help. Moore scored eight points (3-for-3), but he picked up four fouls in his 14 minutes on the court.
- Wisconsin came out on point to start the second half, shooting 69.2 percent over the first eight minutes to build its biggest lead at 53-43. Davison was the key component, making four straight shots (nine points) and orchestrating his own 7-0 run over 59 seconds.
- A Tech timeout and a media timeout appeared to stall UW’s momentum, as Tech took advantage of two low-post miscues for the Badgers (turnover, block) helped the hosts go on a 7-0 run to cut the lead back to single digits at the halfway mark.
- Deivon Smith had no points in the first half but scored nine on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting to cut the Badgers lead to 59-58 with 6:13 remaining.
- Minus an offensive foul (with a questionable flop), Hepburn delivered a good stretch at a critical time. He drew a foul that helped him make two foul shots and followed that with a block on the defensive end to preserve a two-point lead.
- After Wahl’s layup with 3:34 remaining, UW went 2:57 without a field goal. Worse yet, the Badgers missed three free throws, including two from Wahl, to extend the lead.
- Up 66-64 with 37.8 seconds left and Georgia Tech out of timeouts, the Badgers doubled Devoe and forced him to give it up to Usher, who was short on an open 3-pointer from the elbow.
- Davison was fouled with 18.2 seconds left and hit both free throws, giving him 14 points in the second half and putting the Badgers up four.
- After Smith had a rare second-half miss, Hepburn shut the door with two free throws to make it a six-point lead with 11 seconds left.
- Wisconsin returns home for its annual matchup against Marquette. The I-94 rivalry tips Saturday at 11:30 a.m. CT and will be televised by Fox.
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