Game notes: No. 3 Wisconsin 67 - No. 14 Colgate 60

The Wisconsin Badgers had to wait just about all day, but as the clock slowly ticked towards Saturday morning, Johnny Davis, Tyler Wahl, Chucky Hepburn and crew found a final reserve of energy and turned the defense up to 11 to beat a game Colgate Raiders squad, 67-60.

The crowd at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee was amped from the tip-off, but didn’t have much to get excited about in the first half as the Raiders took an early lead and kept the Badgers at bay until halftime. After an electric start to the second half that saw Colgate preposterously hot from deep and Wisconsin dominant in the paint, UW ratcheted up the defense and shut the Raiders down for the final 10 minutes of the game to get the win and advance to the next round.

Here are some post-game fun facts about Wisconsin’s seven point win.

Game notes (courtesy of UW Athletics)

• Wisconsin advanced to the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.

• The Badgers have now won 12 of their last 14 opening games of the NCAA Tournament, including four of five under head coach Greg Gard.

• Wisconsin has now won 15 NCAA Tournament games since 2004, trailing only Michigan (17) for most among Big Ten teams and tied for 7th-highest total in the nation.

• Since 2000, UW has won a total of 35 NCAA Tournament games, the 8th-highest total in the country.

• UW improved to 6-5 in NCAA Tournament games under Gard.

• Gard’s six NCAA Tournament wins rank second in UW history, trailing only Bo Ryan (25 wins).

• Wisconsin is now 4-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Milwaukee.

• UW is now 26-10 against lower-seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament. That includes a perfect mark of 10-0 against teams seeded 13th or lower.

• With 25 wins, this season matches the 7th-highest win total in school history and the 2nd-highest win total under Gard.

• Gard improved his overall record to 144-77 (.652).

• Gard’s .652 win percentage is the school’s second-highest in the last 100 years, trailing only Bo Ryan (.737).

• The Badgers are now 13-3 away from home this season, going 9-2 in true road games and 4-1 at neutral sites.

• UW improved to 21-2 this season when holding opponents below 70 points.

• Over the final 10:39 of the game, Wisconsin limited Colgate to just two field goals on 2-for-11 shooting (18.2%). The Raiders did not make a 3-pointer over the final 12:37 of the game.

• After Colgate took a 52-48 lead with 10:40 remaining, the Badgers went on a 10-0 run while holding the Raiders scoreless for a stretch of 7:07.

• The Badgers committed just five turnovers on the game, lowering their nation-leading average to just 8.3 turnovers per game.

• Wisconsin converted Colgate’s 12 turnovers into 15 points.

• Sophomore Johnny Davis finished with 25 points, including the Badgers’ last 14 points over the game’s final six minutes. He added eight rebounds, two steals and a block.

• Davis scored 25-plus points for the tenth time this season.

• Junior F Tyler Wahl notched 15 points, pulled down nine rebounds and added four assists and two steals.

• Freshman G Chucky Hepburn scored eight points on 3-for-6 shooting, grabbed a career-high six rebounds and dished out five assists without a turnover.