At some point, the University of Wisconsin was likely going to lose with Johnny Davis in the starting lineup. That moment came Saturday, although Davis was hardly one to blame.

The sophomore delivered another impressive stat line that was highlighted by 24 points, but Davis didn’t get much help from his teammates with No.22 Wisconsin suffering a 73-55 loss to No.21 Ohio State at Value City Arena.

Leading the team with seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals, Davis upped his season averages to 20.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, but the Badgers (8-2, 1-1 Big Ten) dropped to 8-1 with him in the starting lineup because his supporting cast provided little offensive support with 31 total points between nine players

“These guys just could have had a bad game today,” Davis said. “We’ve going to need them going forward.”

Here are my five takeaways from a day in which Wisconsin saw its six-game losing streak end.

Davis continued to add to his conference player of the year profile with a dominant opening half. In addition to his 13 points, Davis had three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and no turnovers. He got help from Brad Davison (11 points, 3-for-5 on 3-pointers) but not much assistance from anybody else. Tyler Wahl delivered three points on a three-point play off his own steal, and Chris Vogt had a thunderous dunk, but the eight players not named Davis and Davison were a combined 2-for-14 from the floor.

When those two players cooled at the start of the second half, Wisconsin began shooting 3-for-16 and the offense never picked up. In scoring a season-low 55 points, the Badgers shot 33.8 percent overall, 29.4 percent in the second half, and 23.1 percent (6-for-26 from 3-point range)

The Badgers were at 38.7 at halftime but only down five because they converted 10 Ohio State turnovers into 10 points. Chucky Hepburn hit a jumper on UW’s first possession to cut the lead to three, but then the offense missed its next 10 shots in the following four-plus minutes. When UW finally scored again, the Badgers trailed by nine and couldn’t inch closer than eight.

“I don’t think we were moving the ball the way we needed to,” Davis said. “We just weren’t hitting shots. Brad came out cold in the second half. We were looking for other people to step up, but nobody else really did.”

Davison only scored two points in the second half, handcuffed by five missed shots, but UW’s other three starters didn’t do much in the scoring column. Wahl’s only bucket on seven attempts was that 3-point play in the first half. After failing to make a field goal against Indiana, Hepburn went 2-for-8 that included a meaningless 3-pointer with four seconds left.

Ben Carlson and Steven Crowl missed all three shots they took, as well. Of the 22 baskets made by Wisconsin, 11 were made by Davis.

The analysis of the problem was simple: Wisconsin struggled to touch the post consistently against Ohio State’s frontcourt and playing through the paint. That resulted in just 24 points in the lane, 26 three-point attempts, and a season-low nine free throw attempts.

“We have to have more of a presence in the post from more individuals,” head coach Greg Gard said. “Part of it is we’ve got to go in there more and throw it into more people than just Tyler, Johnny, or Chris Vogt. We have to have more people that can establish themselves in there because it’s an essential play-making position for us. It ignites a lot of what we do from playing inside out. We did not play inside-out effectively enough today.”

Wisconsin did a terrific job bottling up Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis Wednesday, holding the sophomore to single digits scoring for the first time this season and only the second time in his last 34 games. The Badgers would not have the same luck with E.J. Liddell.

Having reached double figures in every game to give him a team-best 19.8 points per game, Liddell torched Wisconsin inside and finished with a game-high 28 points. He beat UW on all front, making three layups, seven jumpers, a 3-pointer, and five free throws. He also delivered four assists and only two turnovers for as much as he touched the ball, a sign that UW didn’t challenge him enough defensively.

Liddell preyed on UW’s youth, too. In one sequence, Carlson entered the game and fouled Liddell on a box out. Shortly thereafter, Liddell secured an offensive rebound against him. At the next dead ball, Carlson came out for Wahl.

Jackson-Davis and Liddell are two different players, with Liddell being more versatile offensively. But while the matchups are different, the focus on limiting post touches is still there and the Badgers struggled against him and forward Zed Key (11 points, nine rebounds).

Wisconsin has lost the rebounding battle five times this season, not entirely surprising considering some of the experienced forwards the Badgers have played and the still-growing youth of Wisconsin’s Carlson and Crowl. However, Ohio State blistered the Badgers with 49 rebounds (a season-high for a UW opponent) while Wisconsin managed only 28 (tied for a season-low).

Worst yet, Wisconsin’s top three rebounders Saturday were guards in Davis (seven), Davison (five), and Hepburn (three)

UW’s top three low-post players (Crowl, Vogt, and Wahl) were outrebounded, 9-5, by Liddell alone.

“They got two very skilled big men in Key and E.J. Liddell, and I don’t think our big men really came to play today and battle with those boys down there,” Davis said

Playing with a lot on his mind Saturday after tornadoes ravaged his hometown of Mayfield, Kentucky, last night, Vogt provided a good offensive stat line with seven points, including five points in the second half (he was tied for second on the team in scoring that half). While the lack of rebounds was problematic, Vogt had a team-best three blocks.

Scoring a combined seven points through the first eight games, Vogt scored 16 points in two Big Ten games this week.

“He’s 7-0, and for him to be able to score in the post when we need him to, that’s going to be big for us,” Davis said. “That’s going to open up a lot of things offensively.”

Vogt is averaging 5.7 points for his career but averaged 11 points per game for Cincinnati during the 2019-20 season, showing those same flashes again.

Fortunately, Vogt’s immediate family left Mayfield prior to the storms and attended the game roughly 430 miles northeast of home. Early estimates say 70 people in Kentucky were killed by the storms.

Many fans likely would have taken a 1-1 split over UW’s December Big Ten games, which is exactly what the Badgers delivered. It’s one thing winning on the road, but it’s another thing to beat a ranked conference team in their own venue, which shows how much UW must improve before jumping back into conference play against current No.1 Purdue early next month.

“We need to get better, and I’ve said that after the last five or six wins,” Gard said. “No matter what the result was today, we need to continue to get better.”

A Big Ten title likely isn’t in the cards for Wisconsin this season (hey, you never know) but getting off to a good start to clinch a top-four finish was vital. Considering the Badgers' next Big Ten opponent is Purdue at Mackey Arena, where UW is 4-41 all-time against the Boilermakers, coming back from 22 points down to beat Indiana was really important to UW's mental psyche.

UW now will spend the rest of the month at the Kohl Center playing three nonconference mid-major opponents (Wednesday against Nicholls State, Dec. 23 against Morgan State, and Dec. 29 against Illinois State). Heading back into Big Ten play with an 11-2 record would be a major accomplishment for this team, which has proven they won’t be the wallowing lower-tier team many expected them to be.

“We are a good team,” Gard said. “Ohio State is a good team. We just need to continue to build, get better, and focus on what we have coming up next week.”

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