Lucas: The tie that binds
December 03, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
‘Rejuvenated’ Davison providing connection for young Badgers
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — After Wednesday's late morning shootaround, Brad Davison took a seat in the lobby of the mid-town Atlanta hotel. The Wisconsin-Georgia Tech tipoff was eight hours away and he was reluctant to look much farther down the road because "I've been trying to stay in the moment."
But when nudged, he agreed to share some thoughts on an upcoming opponent – Marquette – and Saturday's renewal of the I-94 rivalry between the in-state schools at the Kohl Center. This will be his fifth-career start against the Golden Eagles and he's still hunting his second win in the series.
"There's always something extra when you play an in-state team, whether it's Green Bay, whether it's Milwaukee. But especially Marquette, because you know how tight that rivalry has been the last few years that I've been here. It's a new look (for them) with a new coach (Shaka Smart) and a lot of new players."
At least from a personnel standpoint. On the current MU roster, only Justin Lewis (who scored the game-winning basket on a tip-in off a free throw miss in Milwaukee last season) and Greg Elliott (who had six points and three steals in that 67-65 victory) are back with the Golden Eagles.Â
"I know that they're going to play extremely hard and they're going to be extremely tough," Davison said. "And those are the same things that we hang our hat on, especially with our new group. That's our identity – playing extremely hard and being extremely tough.
"It's going to be a physical game, I imagine. I would just tell them (new teammates) that the game remains the same. We control what we can control. We can accomplish so much more when we do it together. Every single game is going to be a new experience moving forward. I'm super excited."
Davison, 22, a fifth-year senior, is the most experienced voice in a Wisconsin locker room featuring eight newbies (five freshmen and three transfers) in the mix with two returning juniors and six sophomores. The Badgers have their largest group of underclassmen in two decades.
"For me, it wasn't much of an adjustment," Davison said of coming back for another season of eligibility. "I just saw it as an opportunity to develop new relationships and interact with new guys and try to figure out what makes them tick and how we can
connect the best.
"In basketball, yes. But also, in things off the court. It has been refreshing for me in a lot of ways just to be around new guys and hang out with them. We're having so much fun on these road trips and I've been trying to connect with the guys on things bigger than basketball."
During Thanksgiving week, Wisconsin became the first Big Ten school in nine years to capture the Maui Invitational championship. The event was relocated to Las Vegas and the Badgers won three games – over Texas A&M, No. 12 Houston and Saint Mary's – in three days for their first Maui title.
"The games in Vegas kind of gave you that feel of our first true road games," Davison said. "But one of the blessings of being at Wisconsin is that we make neutral sites kind of feel like home games with our following. But it was a new challenge and opportunity and a new first for a lot of those guys.
"I've been there and done that with a lot of these things. While this might be my fourth time experiencing it – the Thanksgiving trip or the ACC-Big Ten challenge – or just plane rides and bus rides and shootarounds in new gyms, this is all their first time. So, for me, it's refreshing.
"It kind of rejuvenates me to where I get that first-time feeling with them."
Davison has not forgotten that feeling from the first time playing in a Wisconsin-Marquette game in 2017. On Thursday of that week, he had reinjured his shoulder which had been popping out of place. On Friday – the day before the game – D'Mitrik Trice was ruled out indefinitely with an injury. That same day, Kobe King was injured.
On Saturday, the Golden Eagles rode the hot hands of Andrew Rowsey (24 points) and Markus Howard (23) to overwhelm the short-handed Badgers, 82-63, in the most lopsided series win since 1982. Davison, a true freshman, slid over to point guard in Trice's absence and scored a team-high 20 points.
The following season in Milwaukee, Marquette nipped Wisconsin, 74-69, in overtime, outscoring the Badgers, 22-10 at the free throw line. Ethan Happ had 34 points while Davison missed his only three shots from the field and stripe.
Davison and the Badgers bounced back in 2019 to rout the Golden Eagles, 77-61, at the Kohl Center. It was their largest margin of victory in the series since 1998. Brevin Pritzl had a double-double and six players finished in double-figures, including Davison.
Entering last season's game at Fiserv Forum, the Badgers were ranked No. 4 in the nation after walking over three lightweights on their schedule. When finally tested, they fell short against the Golden Eagles, who ended their 11-game winning streak, dating to last season.
The UW was guilty of 11 fouls in each half and Marquette attempted 28 free throws including D.J. Carton's with 0.9 seconds left. After making the first, he missed the second, setting up Lewis' heroics on a 50/50 rebound.
Davison has come to realize most teams are going to suffer setbacks throughout the course of a long season. Figuratively, they're going to get punched in the mouth. How they respond to adversity will mold their identity. Now, as the elder statesman, Davison is even more aware of his leadership role.
"You lead by example when you've been through the highs and lows and the hills and valleys of a season," said Davison. "You know when you're on Cloud 9, you have to work to stay there. And when you're in the valley, you're in the valley. It's just what it is, and you keep working."
In the Maui Invitational finals, Davison went 1-for-10 from the field. But the one he made was a critical second-half 3-pointer. Five years ago, he admitted, "I probably wouldn't have shot 10 times. If I started 1-for-5, I would have stopped shooting."
Davison smiled and laughed. He's much wiser and more resilient than ever.
"One thing I've realized in basketball is that people make a lot about scoring and statistics and putting the ball in the hoop," said Davison who has appeared in 135 games (131 starts) at Wisconsin. "But 98 percent of the game is not when you're shooting the ball.
Â
HOTLANTA! 🔥@braddavi34 was absolutely EN FUEGO🔥 last night, scoring a season-high 27 points (9 straight in the 2H) pic.twitter.com/ip6nFgjOzy
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) December 2, 2021
"There's so much more individually that you can do to help your team. More so leadership-wise, it's how you handle yourself and the words you say. Your body language is a lot more important than your scoring. The things I say, people hear them, and they absorb them and they're looking at what I do.
"It's something I'm mindful of before, during and after games. I know I have the ability and opportunity to kind of set a standard for this young group. You always want to leave the jersey in a better place than you found it. A legacy goes a lot further than where you are in the record book."
That's how the conversation in that Atlanta hotel lobby ended Wednesday. Davison excused himself so that he could go eat lunch with his teammates. That night, he scored a season-high 27 points, highlighted by five triples, in Wisconsin's gritty 70-66 win over Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion.
In the process, Davison moved past Kirk Penney, Frank Kaminsky and Bronson Koenig into the No. 11 slot on the UW's all-time scoring list (1,470 points). He also jumped over Ben Brust into the No. 3 spot in career 3-pointers (238). He trails only Koenig (270) and Trice (244). It was a good night's work.
On top of everything else, Davison even made a "beer run" while hustling after a loose ball in the closing minutes. Diving into the courtside seats, he collided with a Yellow Jackets' patron, who wound up wearing a cup of beer. The fan and Davison hugged, and play resumed.
"I hadn't played a true road game with fans in just about two years," said Davison, still painfully aware of how the pandemic impacted his sport. "I told the guys that the last road game I played in was at Indiana (March 7, 2020). And we won a Big Ten championship. I've got a good memory of that."
One that will be rekindled next Wednesday when the Badgers open conference play against the Hoosiers at the Kohl Center. But he was not about to go there. Not yet. Not with Marquette coming to town. Instead, he was staying in the moment with the hope of creating another good memory Saturday.
Win or lose, he can count on his support team being there for him afterwards.
"That's what it's all about," Davison said. "It's one thing I missed last year – not getting to spend as much time with my parents, my family, my fiancé, and her family. What makes college sports so amazing – and why I'm thankful to be back – is you get to experience it with the people close to you.
"Basketball can be a drag sometimes when you ride the highs and lows … Basketball is great when you're winning. Basketball gets really tough when you're losing. But the things that make it worthwhile and really give it significance is when you get to do it with the people you love."
It's something that Davison has discussed with some of his best friends on campus – Scott Nelson and Collin Wilder from the football team and Dana Rettke and Sydney Hilley from the volleyball team. It's something he has discussed with others in his grad school athletic administration course, too.
As it is, Davison has to leave practice early every Monday afternoon this semester because of his 4:40 to 7:10 p.m. class (followed by a student affairs course from 7:15 to 9:45 p.m.). To compensate for the lost time, he works out on his own Monday mornings to stay in shape. It's all in a day's work.
"The one thing we all share is that we love our sport," he said of the fellow UW athletes that he hangs out with, inside and outside of the classroom. "But the thing that we love more than our sport is we love people and our relationships and our teammates. Those are the things that we really value.
"We talk about wins and losses. And we talk about performance and stuff. But even more than that, we're all in leadership roles on our respective teams and we talk a lot about those relationships and how we can make them stronger and how we can be a catalyst for that on our teams."
It will be on his mind when his new teammates are exposed to their first Marquette game.
Â
