Davison a pain to UW’s opponents
MADISON – Wisconsin coach Greg Gard probably cringes every time he sees Brad Davison dive on the floor for a loose ball, attack the lane with abandon or attempt to draw a charge.
Considering the freshman guard does those things every game, Gard has endured a few unsettling moments this season.
Davison has been battling a balky left shoulder he first dislocated on Nov. 20 against Baylor and has aggravated at least three times since. But he has not and will not change the way he plays in an attempt to protect the shoulder.
That attitude is why Davison has 17 of the team’s 29 charges drawn and is second on the team in free-throw attempts with 59, just five behind team-leader Ethan Happ (64).
“He embraces physical contact,” Gard said when asked about Davison’s ability to get to the free-throw line. “He doesn’t shy away from it . ... He has been able to get there driving, doing some other things.”
Davison’s contributions will be critical when UW (8-7, 1-1 Big Ten) resumes league play at 6 p.m. Tuesday against visiting Indiana (8-6, 1-1).
He is second on UW in scoring (11.7 ppg.), second in the regular rotation in three-point shooting (39.1%), first in steals (23) and is shooting 44.4% overall.
Davison has just 15 games on his
college résumé, but he understands the ability to get to the free-throw line is critical to the team’s success.
“It is something I pride myself on,” he said. “Whenever you can get easy buckets, especially when the clock is stopped, is huge for us. And it is an opportunity to get other players in foul trouble so it is a big weapon.
“Using my physicality ... I’m bigger than a lot of the guards I play against, so I’m trying to use every advantage I have.”
Davison by just about any measure is enjoying a fabulous freshman season.
Only three UW freshmen have averaged at least 10 points per game in the last 20 years. They are: Devin Harris, Alando Tucker and Happ.
Davison is getting significant playing time (28.3 minutes per game), because Gard has been forced to rely more on young players this season and because UW is without D’Mitrik Trice (foot) and Kobe King (knee).
Trice remains out indefinitely and King is out for the rest of the season.
Yet Davison has capitalized on his opportunity.
Ask UW assistant Dean Oliver about Davison and he will tell you without hesitation that the room for growth this season is expansive.
The areas Oliver listed included defense, decision-making and being better at handling situations late in the shot clock.
“A lot of it is experience,” Oliver said about Davison’s defense. “You’ve got to build habits. You’ve got to build great habits. We’re working on them. We’re building them but they’re not there yet.”
Inexperience led to two mistakes late in the victory over Western Kentucky.
First, Davison went into the lane and committed a foul after missing the second of two free throws.
That sent Western Kentucky’s Taveion Hollingsworth to the line, and he made both attempts to cut UW’s lead to 79-78 with 26 seconds left.
Then after drawing a foul in a tie game and making the first of two free throws with two seconds left, Davison intentionally missed the second shot.
Rather than leaving the ball softly on the rim, however, Davison shot a rocket and the ball bounced out to a Western Kentucky player at the three-point line. The last-second shot wasn’t close but a lesson was learned.
To his credit, Davison’s attitude appears to be: Let me know when I mess up and I’ll fix it.
“There’s a lot of things I still need to learn,” Davison said with a wide grin.
His areas of emphasis: Not taking as many chances on defense, keeping alive the dribble, playing under control when he drives and improving his shot selection.
“Being a freshman, there’s never enough things you can improve on,” he said. “There’s a lot of little things I have to work on.
“I’m just going to be a sponge, soak it all in and keep listening to my coaches.”