BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. —
Brad Davison was oblivious to the conversation that he was about to have with
Aleem Ford at the free-throw line with a little over five minutes left in
Wisconsin's 79-72 win over Rutgers here Sunday at the Kohl Center.
Walking up to Davison, who had just been fouled, Ford said, "Congrats on 1K, my man."
A dumbfounded Davison replied, "What are you talking about?"
"You've scored 1,000 points."
"I have like 12."
"No, for your career."
"Oh …"
Davison made both free throws to give the Badgers a 66-55 lead. Because he was so locked into the game, he insisted that he was unaware that his 3-point basket 75 seconds earlier — launched from the right wing over guard Geo Baker at 6:16 of the second half — gave him 1,000 career points,
"It did kind of sneak up on me," Davison admitted sheepishly afterwards.
Maybe it's because that triple with Baker defending had more to do with winning from Davison's perspective than any individual career achievement. In his mind, snapping the momentum from a 10-1 Rutgers run that had cut UW's lead from 16 to seven was far more important.
In an ironic twist, Baker later reached the 1,000-point plateau on a drive to the rim with 4:01 left. When the game ended, as fate would have it, Davison and Baker, both of whom are juniors, just happened to be standing near each other on the floor so they exchanged a competitor's hug.
Davison was unaware of Baker's milestone, too.
"I'm not on social media," he said. "So, I don't know about any of that stuff. I'm in the dark."
But he was respectful of what it symbolized.
"It's definitely a milestone," acknowledged Davison who's the 45th player in school history to score at least 1,000 points (Baker is the 44th player to do so at Rutgers). "Growing up, a dream of mine was to always play at the Division I level. I never really went into details after that.
"To me, I'm more focused on winning. But it's super cool."
Davison finished his prep career as a four-year starter and Maple Grove (Minnesota) High School's all-time leading scorer with 2,300 points. He doesn't remember getting to 1,000. But he hasn't forgotten the shot that got him to the 2,000 level. It came in his home gym against St. Michael-Albertville.
"It was a step-back 3 in the corner," Davison said, "and all of my best friends, my high school buddies, were standing in the fan section. I didn't know how close I was to 2,000 for that game, either. But as I made it, they all jumped up and threw things in the air and held up posters with 2,000 on them."
Sunday, he was recognized for scoring 1,000 on the Kohl Center scoreboard screen.
"Whenever you get honored for something not a lot of people have accomplished," said former UW captain Josh Gasser, who ranks No. 38 with 1,075 points in 148 games, "it's a good feeling because you've put in a lot of time and work during the offseason and you've seen it come to fruition.
"When it happened for me, I didn't care — just because we had a great team and bigger things that we were worried about. But looking back on it now, it is pretty cool. I'm next to some of the people (on the list) that I idolized as a kid. To me, that's crazy to think about. It is a great accomplishment."
Gasser, who was in attendance Sunday, captured Davison's sentiments.
"It's definitely something I'll be able to tell my kids about someday," said Davison, who has played in 93 games with 89 starts. "When I'm coaching, I can hopefully gain some credibility with my players … that I lived it. I've been in a lot of games, a lot of highs, a lot of lows.
"But it's important to slow down and enjoy moments like this because they don't come around all the time. So, I'll take some time tonight to enjoy it — the journey, not necessarily the points — the journey from my freshman to sophomore to junior year. I'll take time to appreciate these moments."
But, in the moment, he was more excited Sunday about getting a February payback on Rutgers for a, 72-65, loss to the Scarlet Knights on their home floor in mid-December. The Badgers were out-rebounded, 40-26 (14-3 on the offensive glass) and out-scored 23-5 on second-chance points.
In the Kohl Center rematch, the Knights had a slight edge on the boards, 32-30. But they were limited to just seven offensive rebounds, most of them coming late when they were in desperation mode. Moreover, they managed just six points on second chance opportunities. Wisconsin had seven.
The Badgers obviously played with far more toughness and physicality.
"One-hundred percent," Davison agreed. "But also, we're just better. We've grown in so many areas. Physically. Mentally. Offensively. Defensively. We're clicking. We're really clicking and we're playing confidently at both ends of the floor. We're really connected and that makes a big difference."
Micah Potter has also had a measurable impact. The Badgers lost at Rutgers in the 10th game of the season, the final game that Potter was forced to sit out due to NCAA eligibility rules. Sunday, he had 18 points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes. He also matched his season high with four triples (4-of-5).
"You can see how much he helps, not only with points and numbers, but with depth," Davison said. "It allows Nate (Reuvers) to get a little more rest time. And it allows us to do more things. It allows us to play different styles and go big. It makes us more of a mismatch for teams to defend."
Reuvers jump-started the offense by scoring 11 of the first 17 points. He ended up with 17, including 8-of-10 from the free throw line. As a team, the Badgers were 20-for-26. While Rutgers had six more made baskets, the UW dominated the 3-point line (plus-21 points) and the stripe (plus-7).
On the Reuvers/Potter tandem, Davison said, "It makes our team very versatile and, like I said earlier, very hard to defend; we're very hard to prepare for because we can play so many different ways. And, at all times, we've got five guys on the floor who can all shoot the ball.
"That spreads the floor, that creates opportunities for people to attack and get to the rim and also get to the free throw line. Both of those guys, Nate and Micah, are very unselfish, too. If they're getting doubled, they're going to kick it out and we're going to spray it."
The Badgers were 11-of-22 from the 3-point arc, the fourth consecutive game in double-figures, the longest such streak in 10 years. They had 12 triples against Purdue, 15 against Nebraska, and 12 against Ohio State. This season, they are 11-0 when they make nine or more 3-pointers.
Trice, the overall team leader in 3's with 48, took just one and made it against Rutgers. But he had a career-high nine assists and only two turnovers in 34 minutes. Over the last seven games, Trice has 44 assists (6.3) and just 12 turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.7.
"Trice's development and evolution," said UW coach Greg Gard, "is kind of a microcosm of what this team has done and how they have grown if you look back to December (11) at Rutgers and how we didn't handle physical play and didn't handle them off the glass.
"We didn't handle adversity well early in the year. We didn't handle consistent physical play well. When things didn't go well, we didn't respond right. This group has mentally toughened up and responded and matured and I'm proud of them.
"This group has come through more than any team I've been around in my 30 years of coaching in terms of the outside things that they've had to overcome and that have been thrown in their way."
February has been very good historically to Wisconsin. Over the last 10 seasons, the Badgers are 51-20 in this month, including 5-1 this season. But now they have to go back on the road and on Thursday night they will draw the league's most efficient team, Michigan, winners of five straight.
During their winning streak, the Wolverines have had four players average 10 or more points: Isaiah Livers (15.5), Franz Wagner (12.6), Eli Brooks (11.0) and Zavier Simpson (10.4). David DeJulius and Jon Teske are both averaging seven points.
Not unlike the Badgers who have proven to be a much better team with Potter (12-5) than without him (5-5), the Wolverines have shown a similar trend when Livers has been healthy enough to play (13-4) versus when he has been sidelined with injuries (5-5).
"We just have to keep building momentum," Davison said. "At this time of the year, it doesn't matter where you are. When you're in March, you're not playing at home. You've got to lock in, you've got to block everything out and just stay true to that connectiveness and play for one another."
