Badgers' win over Maryland was award-winning
MADISON – The memories of Wisconsin winning its final eight regular-season games to claim a share of the Big Ten men's basketball title remain vibrant for UW fans starved for hoops.
The spread of the coronavirus forced the cancellation of both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments and ended UW's season.
Here is a look back at the game of the year, individual performance of the year, play of the year and the team's unsung hero.
GAME OF THE YEAR
No one who left the Kohl Center on the night of Jan. 14 realized UW's 56-54 victory over Maryland would eventually allow the Badgers to secure a share of the league title.
But without that victory, thanks in part to two huge plays by Brad Davison, the Badgers would have finished one game out of the lead. Instead, they finished 14-6 and shared the title with Maryland and Michigan State.
UW led by five points at halftime, but the Terrapins rallied to take a 35-32 lead on a three-pointer by Anthony Cowan with 14 minutes 41 seconds left. Maryland led for most of the remainder of the game and appeared close to victory after forcing Davison into a shot-clock violation with 13.6 seconds left.
Maryland had to go the length of the floor after a timeout. Darryl Morsell tried to inbound the ball to Cowan along the baseline but Davison broke up the pass with his left hand and then alertly poked the ball off the right leg of Morsell, who was still standing out of bounds.
That gave UW the ball and after a UW timeout Davison used screens from Brevin Pritzl and Nate Reuvers to get open in the right corner for a three-pointer.
Morsell recovered in time to challenge the shot but Davison, who got a perfect inbound pass from D'Mitrik Trice, hit the jumper for a 56-54 UW lead with 10 seconds left.
Cowan got a decent look at a threepointer but the ball hit off the rim and caromed into the left corner. Eric Ayala tracked the ball down and launched a desperation three-pointer that missed and UW had stolen a victory.
PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Trice played the role of distributor in home victories over Purdue and Rutgers, victories No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in UW's eight-game winning streak.
He had almost as many assists (14) as points (16) in the two games.
Four days after the victory over Rutgers, Trice played the role of sniper in UW's critical 81-74 victory at Michigan.
The redshirt junior guard hit 4 of 5 three-pointers and 10 of 16 shots overall and finished with 28 points and four assists.
Trice set the tone early as he hit a pair of jumpers, set up Aleem Ford for a dunk and then hit his first three-point attempt to help UW take a 14-7 lead just 4:05 into the game.
He killed Michigan in the second half with a trio of three-pointers.
The first came over Jon Teske to give UW a 50-43 lead. That was part of a 14-2 run – over a span of 2:50 – as UW turned a 45-43 lead into a 59-45 lead.
Then after the Wolverines had pulled within 61-55, Trice used a screen from Reuvers to get enough space for a threepointer to push the lead to 64-55. That shot, again over Teske, came with four seconds on the shot clock.
Then after the Wolverines had pulled within 70-67, Trice hit a three-pointer over Franz Wagner for a 73-67 lead. That shot came with four seconds on the shot clock.
How deflating was the shot for Michigan?
Wagner appeared disgusted as he turned and trotted to the other end of the court. A Michigan fan, seated just off the end of the UW bench, buried his head in his hands in disbelief.
PLAY OF THE YEAR
UW had wiped out a nine-point, second-half deficit to forge a tie in the final minutes at Indiana.
Indiana's Race Thompson missed a short jumper over Micah Potter and Pritzl grabbed the weak-side rebound to give UW the ball and a chance to take the lead.
UW worked the ball until Trice fired a pass from the right wing inside to Potter with six seconds left on the shot clock. Potter couldn't control the ball, which bounced into the middle of the lane. Potter quickly dived to the court and slapped the ball out to Reuvers, who was behind the three-point line on the left wing.
Reuvers, with a defender in his face, passed to his right to Davison. Davison released a long three-pointer, with two seconds left on the shot clock.
Potter had already gotten up off the floor and, seeing Davison launch the shot, spun away and got inside position against Thompson. Potter grabbed the offensive rebound and, surrounded by two defenders, spun back and fired a pass out to Davison.
Davison didn't hesitate and hit a threepointer with 4:02 left in the game to give UW a 54-51 lead it never lost.
The basket by Davison was the result of hustle by Potter to dive for the loose ball, smarts by Reuvers to find Davison for an open shot, more hustle by Potter to get position for the rebound and the confidence of Davison to take the three-pointer just seconds after missing.
“He is fearless,” Gard said of Davison. Indiana called a timeout after the basket and the cameras showed Davison walking stone-faced to the UW huddle. Potter, meanwhile was screaming to his teammates: “We're not going to lose this game.”
UNSUNG HERO
Trevor Anderson appeared on track to be a key contributor in 2018-'19 until he suffered partially torn ACL in his right knee during preseason practice. Anderson, who sat out the 2017-'18 season after transferring from UW-Green Bay, decided to put off surgery and play through the injury.
His season ended in the eighth game when he suffered a full ACL tear. Anderson underwent surgery and rehabilitation and played in all 31 games this season.
Anderson wasn't fully recovered and early in the season it was obvious his lateral movement was still affected.
Yet Anderson kept grinding and eventually became a regular in the team's rotation. He was able to allow Trice to rest and/or have Davison play off the ball.
Anderson averaged only 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds per game but the ball generally moved crisply when he was in the game and he finished with 38 assists and 17 turnovers.