Lucas: Final ‘what ifs’ can’t mar unforgettable season
March 21, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Losing Hepburn leaves us wondering, but Badgers should also leave us grateful
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Every piece to the puzzle, every starter, brought something unique to the offensive mix. Johnny Davis' explosiveness off the dribble. Brad Davison's 3-point shooting. Tyler Wahl's low post moves. Steven Crowl's soft touch at the rim. Chucky Hepburn's poise under pressure.
When Davis missed the Providence game in Madison, they lost. When Wahl was sidelined for the Michigan State game at the Kohl Center, they lost. When Davis was injured and unable to finish the Nebraska home game, they lost. Whenever that 5-man connectivity or chain was broken, they lost.
There were other losses during the season when all hands were on deck, though Wahl was less than 100 percent and battling the flu in a loss at Ohio State; and Davis was still rehabbing from his ankle injury and saw limited practice time leading up to a loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament.
At full strength, they lost just twice (Illinois and Rutgers).
Because of that dependency on every piece falling into place, it left them vulnerable.
When Hepburn came down awkwardly on his ankle and tumbled to the floor in obvious pain under the Iowa State basket, there was a hush over the predominantly red-clad crowd Sunday at Fiserv Forum. There was 4:37 left in the first half and the Badgers were clinging to a 22-19 lead.
Hepburn was helped to the UW locker room. He later returned. On crutches.
How much of a difference would a healthy Hepburn have made on the outcome, a 54-49 loss?
Could Hepburn have had an impact on all the misfiring's from the 3-point line (the Badgers were only 2-of 22)? Entering the NCAA tournament, he had made 11 of his last 22 shots (.500) from beyond the arc despite going 0-for-4 against Nebraska. He was 4-of-6 with the game-winner against Purdue.
Could Hepburn have had an impact in running the Wisconsin offense more efficiently? He had five assists and 0 turnovers in Friday's win over Colgate. That gave him 14 assists versus 2 turnovers the last four games.
In sum, there's little doubt, the Badgers were a different team without Hepburn.
More than anything else, they were missing his poise under pressure. Defensive. Or otherwise.
Said Wahl, who got into early foul trouble, "Chucky's a great player, a great point guard. He's another piece that really holds us together. Seeing him go down hurts us. But we tried to rally together and you could definitely feel his presence not out there."
Said Davison, who had four of the UW's seven assists, matching the team's lowest total over the last 22 games, "We have an offensive game, a defensive game plan. He's a big leader, a big foundation of what we try to do, so when we lost him, we had to kind of make audibles on the run."
Said UW head coach Greg Gard, "We needed to have him on the court. It would have helped."
How much would it have helped? Iowa State led the Big 12 in 3-point percentage defense (.294). And while averaging only 6.9 triples of its own – the Cyclones were 3-of-14 against Wisconsin – they've been outshot from beyond the arc only nine times. LSU was 4-of-19 (.211) on Friday.
How much would it have helped? Prior to Sunday's contest, Iowa State was fifth nationally in turnover percentage – turning over foes on nearly 25 percent of their possessions. The Cyclones had 15 steals and 22 points off turnovers in that LSU win. They had nine steals and 11 points versus Wisconsin.
How much would it have helped? Without Hepburn breaking down the defense and posing a scoring option/threat, Davis made just 4-of-16 shots (0-of-7 from the arc). On the other hand, the Cyclones also limited Iowa's Keegan Murray to nine points (4-of-17 FG, 1-of-6 on 3-pointers).
In the end, it remains to be seen how much it would have helped. But losing Hepburn when the Badgers did – near the end of the first half while holding a slim lead in a hotly contested, physical, bumper-car type of game marred by an inconsistent whistle – was significant to the outcome.
And it was not just his physical absence from the floor.
There had to be an emotional toll from his injury and the sight of Hepburn writhing in pain.
During the postgame press conference, Davison was flanked by Wahl to his left and Davis to his right. At one point, Davison was answering a question and Wahl had his head down, resting it on his right hand. Likewise, Davis had his head down, resting it on his left hand.
You can only imagine what they were thinking about at that moment.
Gard later shared his thoughts, "Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is obviously that will be the last time I'll have that group in the locker room. It's not the actual game itself, it's the finality of the season and the finality of a journey that's been a long time in the making. It's the relationships.
"The loss … yeah that stings. We didn't play well enough, shoot well enough, take care of the ball. But it goes beyond that. It's the finality of that last time and not being able to go to practice tomorrow or next week. Those types of things. It's going to end at some point in time.
"You just try to hope that you can keep stringing it out for another day."
The Badgers exit the Big Dance having won at least one NCAA Tournament game in 20 of 26 trips, including 12 of the last 14. Since 2014, they've won 15 NCAA games, the second-most among Big Ten teams and the eighth-highest total in the nation.
In clinching a share of their second Big Ten championship in the last three seasons, the Badgers defied the odds and the all-knowing pundits who had them projected for 10th in the league. Only Michigan State has won more regular season Big Ten titles since 2000.
Davis not only elevated his game – to Big Ten Player of the Year status – but he also lifted his teammates by making them better. Davison stamped his name all over the record book. Wahl had an offensive renaissance. Crowl showed promise. And Chucky, well, Chucky was Chucky. A true gift.
We'll never know, will we? How much it would have helped to have had Hepburn. Just like we'll never know if the Badgers hadn't given up an easy basket on an inbounds play on the final possession of the first half, if carrying a lead and momentum into the second half would have made the difference.
Just like we'll never know if the Badgers hadn't been guilty of offensive basket interference with eight minutes remaining – the ball was going in without help and it would have cut Iowa State's lead to 38-36 – if that might have been the game-changing play and blown the roof off Fiserv.
Just like we'll never know if the Badgers had made one or two of those open looks that they got from the perimeter in transition – or if they wouldn't have allowed so many offensive rebounds extending Iowa State possessions and exacerbating their frustration – it would have made a difference.
Here's what we do know. It was a heckuva season that came up short of the Sweet 16.
And, yes, what made it bittersweet was having Hepburn sidelined during the second half.
Davis and Davison were the last two UW players in the handshake line. Davison had surveyed the arena for one final snapshot in his head wearing a Wisconsin jersey. Davis and Davison walked off the floor together for the last time. They left us with unforgettable memories. So did this team.
