BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Not long after learning their seed (No. 3 in the Midwest), Friday's opponent (Colgate) and destination (Milwaukee and Fiserv Forum, 82 miles from the Kohl Center), Tyler Wahl and Chucky Hepburn posed for pictures with fans who attended an NCAA tournament selection celebration.
Following Sunday's bracket reveal, which drew an enthusiastic gathering to Union South and also featured the UW band, it was hard to tell who was enjoying themselves more. Wahl and Hepburn? Or the people, mostly young people, who took a seat between them on the stage for the photo op?Â
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Hepburn conceded afterwards – "It's always fun to put a smile on somebody's face – that makes your heart feel really good" and Wahl followed up by saying, "Everyone on this team was that kid once where they were looking up to a team like the Badgers. Or a guy on this team. Or that team."
Hepburn was that kid growing up in Omaha, Nebraska. Back then, his early "dream" teams were Oregon and Creighton. The latter was led by Doug McDermott, the D-1 scoring champ and 2014 National Player of the Year. Playing for his dad (Greg), the Blue Jays went to three straight Big Dances.
Wahl's fondest memory from the NCAA tourney was Villanova's Ryan Arcidiacono dropping a pass to Kris Jenkins who hit the winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to foil North Carolina in the 2016 championship game. Only 4.7 seconds remained after UNC's Marcus Paige had tied the score with a 3.
"That's probably the one that sticks out the most to me," said Wahl, a native of Lakeville, Minnesota. "Watching Villanova and North Carolina and that last second shot, it was like, 'Wow.' It's everyone's dream growing up in the backyard. National championship on the line. And you hit that 3."
For
Brad Davison, also a Minnesotan (Maple Grove), it was the 2010 finals between Duke and Butler at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. There was a near "Hoosiers" quality to the finish. But Gordon Hayward's halfcourt shot banked off the glass and front rim and the Blue Devils hung on for a 61-59 win.
"Growing up," he said, "it's the most vivid memory that I have of the NCAA tournament."
Davison also remembers the growing pains and disappointment that he felt as a UW freshman when the Badgers didn't make the tournament in 2018. "It was one of the worst feelings," he said, "because we have a standard in this program that all the work that you put in is for this tournament.
"It's for the opportunity to have your One Shining Moment and to dance."
Wisconsin had just that – One Shining Moment – after handing No. 1 seed Kentucky its first loss of the season in the 2015 NCAA semifinals thereby avenging a loss to the Wildcats the year before in the 2014 Final Four. The Badgers moved on to the championship game for the first time since 1941.
Johnny Davis recalled watching the UW's upset of Kentucky from a hotel room. His La Crosse basketball team was competing in a tournament that weekend. "Back then, I was a Kentucky fan – that's where I wanted to go to school," he said. Grinning broadly, he added, "I was then… I'm not now.
"I'm glad things ended up the way that they did."
The Madness of it all. March Madness. Things are just picking up. Not ending. Especially since the Badgers will be opening the 2022 tournament at Fiserv Forum, which has replaced the BMO Harris Bradley Center, dubbed "Kohl Center East" after the UW's most recent postseason trip to Milwaukee.
In 2014, No. 2 seed Wisconsin weathered a sluggish start and used a 22-5 run to close out the first half and ended up routing American, the Patriot League champions (the same conference in which Colgate has advanced to five straight tournament title games, the first school in league history to do so).
The second game at the Milwaukee site was much closer and the "home" crowd was much more of a factor in fueling a furious comeback for the Badgers who rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit for an 85-77 win over Oregon. Raucous. Deafening. Ear-splitting. That was the Bradley Center.
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"That's the best crowd I've ever played in front of," said Ben Brust whose 3-pointer in the final 67 seconds was the dagger and also broke Tim Locum's school record for career triples. "I wanted to thank every single fan. That was an amazing job they did, and they definitely helped get us going."
Wisconsin head coach
Greg Gard, then a Bo Ryan assistant, has not forgotten how instrumental the fan base was in '14, serving as a springboard into the Sweet 16 and beyond, the Final Four. "I don't think we rally to beat Oregon if we're not there in Milwaukee with that crowd behind us," he said.
After finding out during Sunday's CBS Selection Show that the Badgers were returning to the Cream City, Gard offered some caution when he pointed out, "I've seen close (NCAA) sites work for us and I've seen close sites cause distractions. I've seen remote sites really work for us."
Gard has already talked to his players about potential distractions indigenous to postseason basketball. Make no mistake about it, though, he's delighted to be playing at Fiserv Forum, but he reiterated, "In-between those lines is what is going to matter. And that's what we have to focus on."
Gard wasn't about to let anybody think past Colgate, winners of 15 straight games.
"You talk about making a run?" he pondered aloud. "Well, you've got to make a run for the next 40 minutes. That's what we're guaranteed. These guys have been in tournament atmospheres before." And he actually turned towards his Badger players who were seated on stage for confirmation.
"How many guys have won state championships?" he asked. "Raise your hand. One, two, three, four, five, six … (Counting) How many played in the state finals, a championship game? (Counting hands again). Seven, eight. So, they're used to winning. We recruit winners. They understand. This is special.
"Don't take it for granted. It doesn't just happen. This is a lot of hard work by these guys."
Through their season-long body of work, capped with a co-Big Ten championship, they earned a No. 3 seed and the opportunity to play close to home in the eyes of the selection committee. Noted Davis, "I think we deserved it. We've all worked hard enough. We've been grinding every single day …'
Repeating … getting sent to Milwaukee by the committee is part of that reward for a job well-done even though the Badgers came up short in the Big Ten tournament last weekend. Said Wahl, "It's every kid's dream to play in March Madness. And we get to do it right here in our home state."
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