INDIANAPOLIS – In 23 years of the Big Ten hosting a postseason tournament, the regular-season champion has won the conference tournament 11 times. The University of Wisconsin is hoping to make it 12.

Winning a share of the 2021-22 Big Ten title in the penultimate game of the regular season, No.12 Wisconsin earned a double bye into the conference tournament quarterfinals and will begin play tonight at 5:30 p.m. CT.

UW’s opponent will be seventh-seed Michigan State, who defeated 10th-seed Maryland, 76-72, in the tournament’s second round Thursday night. The two schools split their regular-season meetings with the road team winning each game. This will be the 11th meeting in the conference tournament between the two schools, the most common opponent for UW in this format (MSU leads 6-4).

Sharing the regular-season title with Illinois, Wisconsin earned the No.2 seed in the tournament based on the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Badgers have won the tournament three times (2004, 2008, 2015) and are 21-11 against lower-seeded teams.

Here are three things to watch for Wisconsin’s Big Ten Tournament run.

Wisconsin won’t go far in March without Johnny Davis, who was named the conference’s Player of the Year on Tuesday after averaging 20 points and 8.1 rebounds during the season. Suffering a mild ankle injury early in the second half of Wisconsin’s regular-season finale Sunday, Davis has practiced on a limited basis through the early part of the week.

Davis said on Tuesday and reiterated Wednesday that he plans on playing this week while Greg Gard remained optimistic that he’ll have his All-American guard available.

UW has been less reliant on Davis’s heroics over the last several weeks. Remember, the Badgers closed the final 2+ minutes in Minneapolis after he fouled out, built a 9-point halftime lead at Rutgers with him only scoring four points, and had a five-point lead at the break against Purdue when Davis was only 1-for-5.

While UW faltered down the stretch against Nebraska, the Badgers had their two best offensive stretches when Davis was on the bench (15 points on the last 11 possessions of the first half and a 21-7 run following the ankle injury). However, Davis being on the court opens scoring opportunities for Wisconsin with his ability to rebound, pass, and draw attention from defenders. Not having him would make things harder for UW to function.

Unsung heroes for Wisconsin this season, sophomore forward Steven Crowl and freshman guard Chucky Hepburn were big reasons why the program earned a share of the conference title. Their struggles contributed to the title not being an outright one by Sunday night.

Crowl turned the ball three times within the first three minutes against Nebraska, including UW’s first two possessions, and missed a shot in the paint on the third possession. After having four turnovers in his previous nine games, Crowl had four turnovers in 14 first-half minutes. He finished the game with four points on 2-for-7 shooting.

Hepburn finished with a team-worst minus-9 ratio against the Huskers, going 2-for-9 from the field. He missed the first of three free throws that would have tied the game with 19 seconds remaining. After banking in the winning 3-pointer Tuesday, Hepburn finished 0-for-4 from the perimeter that included the potential game-winning shot in the final seconds when he was left wide open.

Both performances could be viewed as an aberration. Crowl has started every game and is averaging 9.6 points (55.1 percent) over the last seven games. Wisconsin is 12-1 in games this season when Crowl scores in double figures.

Named to the league's All-Freshman Team, Hepburn has started every game as a true freshman and leads the team in assists (68) and steals (35) against only 36 turnovers. At 8.1 points per game, Hepburn is trying to become just the fifth true freshman at UW to average 8.0 ppg in the last 25 years.

Crowl and Hepburn are centerpieces for Wisconsin's offense in the years to come. Having both playing well on the postseason stage would be monumental for the Badgers.

Wisconsin’s five starters (Crowl, Davis, Brad Davison, Hepburn, and Tyler Wahl) have played between 63.8 percent (Crowl) and 85.6 percent (Davison) of the minutes this season and are a combined 23-4 when they start. UW’s bench has been a work in progress for much of the year, a reason why the starters have logged so many minutes, but the reserves – comprised mostly of center Chris Vogt, guards Jahcobi Neath and Jordan Davis, and forward Ben Carlson - have been delivering more production in recent weeks.

Playing a season-high 20 minutes, Davis had seven points, two assists and two rebounds in the victory at Minnesota. Against Purdue, the bench combined for seven points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and one turnover. With Crowl’s struggles, Vogt had a season-high 13 points in 14 minutes on Sunday.

UW’s bench is in a better position to contribute than it was in late November when the Badgers won the Maui Invitational

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