Wisconsin Badgers did not finish strong to end the regular season. Wisconsin lost five of their last six games. Now, these were against some of the premier competition in the Big Ten as well as the entire college basketball landscape. They had the ability to get a reset against a scrappy Penn State team. Penn State is no slouch, but Wisconsin came out firing. They were up by 18 in the midway point of the second half reading to cost to Iowa before Penn State caught fire making it a game at the end. Brad Davison saved Badgers fans from having to dip into their liquor cabinet with a huge timeout.

Brad Davison calls a timeout with less than a second remaining after grabbing the loose ball on a critical possession.

Win secured for @BadgerMBB. pic.twitter.com/gEIIniFSwZ

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 12, 2021

THREE STARS
Brad Davison – Look, people might hate him who don’t root for Wisconsin, but the guy has moxy. He gave a pump-up speech in the huddle that parlayed to an 18-3 run for Wisconsin. The timeout which we saw above. And he had a good game from the field. Davison had 15 points with five assists. Davison did it all from the free-throw line or the three-point line. Wisconsin will take 15 from Davison every game out.

TWO STARS
Aleem Ford – The only problem with the ‘star ratings’ is the middle doesn’t always reflect it. Ford had a better-than-average game out there. He scored 17 points making five three-pointers. He could not miss at certain points of this game. Wisconsin is a different team when Ford is scoring. If he can become a reliable option for Wisconsin, they become a much better team for March.

ONE STAR
The late-game collapse – The good thing about March is you have a short memory. Wisconsin gets to play tonight against Iowa. They can completely wash away what happened last night to Penn State in the late game. Is it a good thing? No, not at all. But it doesn’t hurt Wisconsin moving forward. They need to learn from it. But it’s not the end of the world. Wisconsin needs to find quick buckets when they suddenly start bleeding like that.

Next up: As mentioned, Wisconsin is playing basketball tonight. They get to play Iowa for a third time this season. Wisconsin had Iowa beat in the second half then things got crazy late on Sunday. Let’s hope for not as many ref reviews. It sounds like Joe Weiskamp will not play for the Hawkeyes, which is a huge lift for Wisconsin.

Charlie.