Wisconsin entered their NCAA Tournament first-round matchup with the North Carolina Tar Heels with the opposite of positive momentum.
The team had lost four of its last five, nine of its last 14 and were struggling due in large part to inefficient nights behind the arc. Plus, if any more of a reason for doubt was needed, the program’s record in Mackey Arena—Purdue’s home stadium and location for the game—stood at a whopping 4-42.
Tonight, all of the negatives suddenly became positives as the Badgers beat the Tar Heels 85-62 thanks to a 48-percent shooting performance from three, 51-percent shooting performance from the floor and a stellar all-around defensive effort.
North Carolina’s strengths entering the contest were exactly what the Badgers struggled with—a big, athletic team who makes their mark on the offensive glass. But Wisconsin stood tough, out-rebounding the Tar Heels 37-34, recording five steals and blocking eight Tar Heel shot attempts.
The specific positives were plentiful, with Greg Gard perfectly setting his team up for success thanks to new rotations that saw Micah Potter and Nate Reuvers play at the same time, D’Mitrik Trice continuing to lead the team on the offensive end, Tyler Wahl continuing his stellar defensive efforts, Jonathan Davis scoring at will and, obviously, Brad Davison putting up 29 points on 10/15 shooting and 5/7 from three.
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Davison, for the first time in a while, was shooting the ball with confidence, bailing out bad offensive possessions with deep threes and providing a spark plug to a Badger offense that struggled with inconsistency much of the season. His performance tonight, on the stage he did it on, should be put up there with the best of his Wisconsin career.
Wisconsin will now prepare for a round of 32 matchup with 1-seed Baylor, one of the nation’s top teams and another group that will present real challenges to the Badgers’ style of play.
But for now, it’s time to appreciate Wisconsin’s winning effort tonight. The win was the program’s first in the NCAA Tournament since 2017 and provided a glimpse of what Badger fans saw during the 2019-2020 run to the top of the Big Ten.
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