MADISON, Wis. – Chucky Hepburn knows that if he was a pinch last season, he could have turned to a pair of savvy guards to carry the burden. It was the luxury for a true freshman point guard to have an All-American guard in Johnny Davis and a super senior leader in Brad Davison to take some of the burdens of the offense and put his name farther down the opponent’s scouting report.

With both of those players in the pros, however, there’s no place for Hepburn to hide.

“I definitely feel it,” Hepburn said. “I hear the coaches screaming out to be in the gap when I have the ball. It’s definitely changed from last year. That’s why I’m looking forward to this year.”

Hepburn knows his role has expanded entering his sophomore campaign as the only guard on the UW roster with extensive experience at the high-major level. A Big Ten All-Freshman honoree last year and named to the 2023 Preseason All-Big Ten Team, his play usually impacts the result. The Badgers are 13-1 when he scores in double figures and 20-5 when he finishes with more assists than turnovers, which he’s done in every game this season.

The problem Hepburn has experienced this season is putting the ball in the hoop. His shooting percentage (32.4 percent) is the worst among UW’s starters. Even on the NCAA’s official website, only the top 350 players are listed and the lowest is 42 percent.

In Tuesday’s harder-than-it-should-have-been 56-45 win over Green Bay, Hepburn was 2-for-14 from the field, the first time in his college career he missed more than nine shots in a game. Worst yet, a lot of misses came at or around the rim, and a handful being minimally contested, something that has been an issue since the exhibition season for him.

“I think he has to play off two feet a little bit better, explode to the rim,” head coach Greg Gard said. “We talk about high jumping and not long jumping, so I think some of that is technique at the rim (and) taking the contact. When guys are struggling, get yourself to the free throw line so you can see the ball go in.”

When asked Thursday what the tape revealed, Hepburn called the problems “easy fixes,” saying he was playing off two feet but wasn’t balanced going up to the rim. He also claims that he hasn’t been pressing when shots aren’t falling, but there’s no denying the pressure on Hepburn is greater this year without UW’s security blanket.

Call it the “Johnny Davis syndrome.” Davis was a scoring juggernaut last season during an All-American campaign, and his teammates made sure he had plenty of opportunities to carry the offense. Davis took 492 shots during 2021-22 season, which was 25.5 percent of the team’s attempts. No player had taken more shots or a higher percentage since Alando Tucker, who had 545 attempts and 28.9 percent of the team’s share during his 2007 All-American season.

It was no secret that the offense at points last season – for better or worse – was get the ball to Davis and get out of the way.

“Everybody had a role last year, and my role was to facilitate,” Hepburn said. “That’s still kind of my role this year, and my role is not going to be what Johnny’s was because Johnny was a fantastic player. But I’m the point guard of the team. I need to lead, whether it’s getting to the rim to score or getting to paint and finding others for an assist.”

Hepburn’s leadership will be center stage this week with Wisconsin (3-0) currently in The Bahamas preparing for its biggest test of the young season – a three-day run through the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament that will have them open against Dayton (4-1) Wednesday afternoon (1:30 p.m./ESPN). Beat the Flyers and the Badgers might face reigning national champion Kansas (4-0) on Thanksgiving.

Rising in big moments hasn’t been an issue for Hepburn in his career. He took his high school in Nebraska to state all four seasons but more recently hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to help Wisconsin beat No.8 Purdue, the final three of his career-high 17 points to lift the Badgers to a Big Ten title last season.

Ask Wisconsin assistant coach Dean Oliver where Hepburn is better than his freshman year and the sixth-year assistant coach will rattle off a checklist of improvements: mentally more comfortable with the offense and his teammates, can diagnose things quicker on both ends of the floor, finds himself more often in the right place at the right time, etc. All of that comes with the experience of starting all 33 games as a true freshman.

“Initially last year, we almost had to tell him to be more aggressive,” Oliver said. “You’re probably going to see the opposite end of that this year. Sometimes we might have to tell him to get some other guys involved, be less aggressive, and pick your spots. He’s got a lot on his shoulders as far as making plays and a lot of duties as a point guard. He’s played big minutes before, so he’s used to it, but I think he’ll grow even more this year with the experience he’s had and with what he’s shown in the past.”

Mentally distraught after an ankle injury ended his season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, leading to a six-week recovery process, Hepburn spent ample time working on his mid-range jumper and activity in the low post. He fully expects that to pay off

“(The ankle injury) was mentally tough for me,” Hepburn said. “I was breaking down a little bit. I cried at halftime because I knew I couldn’t go out there. It was the last time I played with Brad, Johnny, and the other seniors. It gave me motivation for this year.

“I can see that my teammates and coaches believe in me to be able to go score the ball. I’m just getting back to my old self.”

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