BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. – There were a few sequences in the first half last Tuesday against Penn State where Wisconsin senior Tyler Wahl felt like he was back. Or almost back to where he needed to be after missing three and one-half games due to an injury sustained two weeks earlier in the Minnesota win.

After having his first shot block and missing his next two – "I was getting a feel for it and I was definitely not in sync with myself and my usual moves'' – Wahl was sandwiched by Myles Dread and Kanye Clary on the post. But he split them and scored. Playing through contact, he drew a foul on Clary.

"I got a couple of guys knocking me around and I was able to hold my balance and get a bucket out of it – yeah, it was definitely good to see that one go down,'' said Wahl who completed the three-point play to knot the game, 25-all. He played 15:36 in the first half and was 1-of-5 from the field.

In the second half, he said, "I felt like I quit thinking as much and I was just out there playing basketball and getting into the flow of it. I feel like the second half is always where you get locked in. You know what the other team is doing, and you know what you're trying to do.

"You can really only focus on that and not anything else.''

Wahl had six points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in the second half helping the Badgers rally from a 36-30 halftime deficit for a 63-60 victory over the Nittany Lions who saw their record drop to 0-19 over the last 25 years at the Kohl Center. Their last win in Madison was in 1995.

Most importantly, Wisconsin snapped a three-game losing streak – coinciding with Wahl's absence from the line-up – and it provided the Badgers with some momentum for the upcoming two city road swing, beginning with Monday's rescheduled game at Northwestern (5:30 p.m. tipoff on BTN).

Originally slated for Saturday (Jan. 21) at 11 a.m., it had to be postponed because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols within the Wildcats program. From Evanston, Ill., the Badgers will fly to Maryland for a Wednesday night game against the Terps in College Park.

Wahl was more than happy to take advantage of Saturday's postponement.

"I'm going to let my body recover,'' he said, "and let everything fall into place.''
Going into the Penn State contest, there was some discussion about monitoring Wahl's minutes – putting him on the equivalent of a "pitch count'' – but that never really materialized. "After the game, coach (Greg) Gard said, 'So much for limiting your minutes,''' said Wahl, breaking into laughter.

In his first three Big Ten games, Wahl was averaging 25.4 minutes. Against Penn State, he played 32:50. "In the game, we were going to see how I was feeling,'' he said. "If I was good, I was going to stay in. If not, I was going to come out. I was able to fight through a little pain and I was feeling all right.''

It didn't take long for Wahl to impact the outcome after intermission. At the 16:38 mark, he got a deflection and steal off a Camren Wynter pass and converted the turnover into points at the other end on a driving layup to push the Badgers into a 37-36 lead. They never trailed after that Wahl basket.

Midway through the half, Wahl even made a 3-pointer, only his fifth of the season. Less than a minute later, he assisted on a Chucky Hepburn triple, underscoring his value to spacing the floor. Wahl got the ball on the block and Hepburn's defender, Wynter, collapsed inside and doubled Wahl.

That left Hepburn wide open on the arc. Wahl passed out of the double-team to Hepburn and Wynter couldn't recover in time to close and contest the shot. There was another sequence in which Wahl got an assist by executing a high-low pass to Steven Crowl, who finished in the paint.

"It's a player's game – coach Gard has always said that – and in crunch time, when decisions need to be made in a split second, Tyler has made those,'' said associate head coach Joe Krabbenhoft. "More often than not, he's made the right ones. He knows what the team needs and when we need it.''

Time and situation. For example, Gard felt like the Badgers needed some more size in matching up with Jalen Pickett, the 6-4, 209-pound heartbeat of the Nittany Lions. Pickett, a veteran of 123 college starts at Siena and PSU, can do it all. He has accounted for 1,851 career points and 729 assists.

In the second half, Gard put the 6-9 Wahl on Pickett. "He's a solid player – a big, strong guard,'' Wahl said. "He never makes the wrong play. He's always making the right pass and he's never forcing it too much. He just has a good basketball mind and a good knowledge of the game.

"I felt like I was able to hold my own a little more than the shorter guys because I'm a little bigger and a little stronger. But most of the time when I'm guarding the little guys, I've got to be a little quicker. Jalen wasn't going to break you off the dribble. He was just a man playing basketball.

"I feel like we have a similar game so I was able to do my thing and slow him down a little bit.''

It was during his jousting with Pickett that Wahl took another step in his recovery from the injury. "I felt like when I got switched on to Jalen,'' he said, "and I was able to get over a few screens and then get back in front of him, that's when I felt like I was really back and moving around a lot better.''

There was no question in Krabbenhoft's mind that the Badgers missed Wahl's versatility during their losing streak. "It's the little things, schematically in what we do defensively, that has been ingrained in him for three to four years, so he just does it naturally,'' Krabbenhoft said.

"He makes some simple decisions that are very easy for him but complicated for others.''

How so? "Been there. Done that,'' Krabbenhoft said. "Tyler has been through it all.''

It's why Wahl was able to relate to Gard shaking up the line-up against Penn State by starting freshman Connor Essegian and bringing Jordan Davis off the bench. Davis, a junior, had started the first 16 games this season. Wahl experienced a similar shake-up during his sophomore season (2020-21).

Seeking a better matchup for Rutgers' Geo Baker, Gard started Wahl over Nate Reuvers who just happened to be Wahl's former prep teammate at Lakeville (Minn.) North High School and had started 79 straight games for the Badgers. Wahl had started just three times as a freshman the year before.

Did Wahl and Reuvers discuss taking on different roles? "It really wasn't a discussion," Wahl remembered. "He (Reuvers) just said, 'Go out there, play confidently, and do your thing.' It was just words of encouragement. Coming from an older guy when you're younger, that's huge."

Reuvers eventually got back into the starting line-up. Wahl has been starting ever since. The only interruption in his streak was the recent injury setback. The Indiana loss was the hardest to watch, Wahl admitted. "We went through a stretch where it just wasn't us," he said.

It's why there was a heightened sense of urgency for Penn State. Not only did Essegian contribute 10 points and 3 rebounds in his first career start – he played 33:24 – but Davis had 4 points and 6 rebounds while logging 29:15, his most playing time since the Dec. 3 Marquette victory.



An injury to Max Klesmit created an opportunity for Davis to see extended second half action against Penn State and he didn't disappoint. He played all 20 minutes. "We did a really good job of sticking with our game plan,'' Wahl said, "and sticking with each other throughout that whole game.''

Wahl logged a little more than 17 minutes in the second half. "I felt like I was confident,'' he said. "I kept shooting, I wasn't making a lot, but I feel like I was getting to my spots.'' The following morning, he noted, "Honestly, my body wasn't feeling too bad. I was expecting it to feel worse.''

Wahl's return has made everyone feel better. "We've seen in crucial times where we've missed his experience, his decision-making, specifically on the defensive end,'' Krabbenhoft said. "But also on the offensive end, we've gone to him many, many times when we needed a bucket.

"When we've needed a good decision to be made, the ball is often in his hands.''

As it will be when the Badgers resume Big Ten play Monday night at Northwestern. Last season, the Badgers won their only meeting with the Wildcats, 82-76, at Welsh-Ryan Arena. It was their seventh straight in the series, and fourth in a row in Evanston, where they've won 9 of their last 10 games.

Wahl had 14 points and 11 rebounds. The numbers speak for themselves. So does Wahl.

"People are listening,'' Krabbenhoft said. "He's not afraid to speak up and tell certain individuals or the team collectively what they need to hear – sometimes that goes for the coaches. We lean on our guys who have been out there, and Tyler can command a huddle and talk to everybody.''

Wahl makes the complicated … simple.

"I'm just out there trying to win the game. That's my goal every time I step on the court.''