Gophers face tough task in Badgers' All-American talent, NCAA player of year favorite Johnny Davis

FULLER'S FOUR THINGS TO WATCH:

Here's Johnny

There hasn't been a player like Johnny Davis in the Wisconsin program in recent memory.

Sure, the Badgers had All-Americans such as Frank Kaminsky and Ethan Happ within the last 10 years. And Kaminsky became a top-10 NBA draft pick after being named NCAA player of the year in 2015.

But Davis went from relatively unknown outside of the Big Ten his freshman season to a favorite to win Big Ten and national player of the year as a sophomore. He's already projected as a lottery pick. He's arguably the best guard in Wisconsin's program since Michael Finley (Davis' 21.7 scoring average is the highest since Finley in 1992-93).

The Gophers are obviously facing a different player Sunday in Madison than they played his freshman year last season when he averaged 7.0 points off the bench. The 6-5 Davis is on pace to be considered an all-time great Badger, if he's not already there.

"He made a huge, huge jump," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said. "Even within the Wisconsin program, they knew he was a good player, but I don't think anybody thought he was going to make a jump and be national player of the year, Big Ten player of the year, NBA lottery pick-type. Credit to his development and what he's been able to do in the offseason to get better."

Davis has scored at least 20 points in 11 of his 17 games this season, including a 37-point, 14-rebound performance in a victory at Purdue. He also had 23 points, but more importantly a go-ahead three-pointer with 90 seconds left to seal the comeback from a program-record 22 points down to win at Indiana.

"He's so efficient," Johnson said. "He can score it in a lot of ways. He rebounds the basketball. He does a good job at the free throw line. He's shooting close to 37% from three. He's the catalyst of the team. He's able to get his own and get others involved."

The Gophers will need another breakout game for their sophomore star Jamison Battle, who returned from missing a game with an illness to have 15 points against Ohio State. Battle ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 17.8 points per game, which included a 27-point effort in the Dec. 11 win at Michigan.

Frontcourt depth

The center position has been a revolving door in the last few games since Eric Curry's ankle injury.

Curry, who is game-time decision to play Sunday at Wisconsin, averaged 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 28.3 minutes per game as the Gophers' starter. The Gophers have looked to Charlie Daniels, Treyton Thompson, and Danny Ogele for an inside presence in his absence, but even their combined production hasn't been enough.

In Big Ten play, Curry was averaging 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds, which included a career-high 19 points and seven rebounds in his last game in a Jan. 12 loss at Michigan State.

Daniels, Thompson, and Ogele combined for nine points and six rebounds in Thursday's 75-64 loss against Ohio State, but all of that was in the first half.

The next man up to start at center was Daniels, who averaged 2.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in the last three starts. The Stephen F. Austin transfer got into foul trouble against the Buckeyes, so he finished with just two points and a rebound in 11 minutes.

Thompson, a 7-foot freshman, had a strong first half Thursday when replacing Daniels with five points and four rebounds, but he went scoreless in the second half. That was coming off a season-high 10 points in 40 minutes in last weekend's 68-65 win against Rutgers.

The Gophers were recruiting several centers in the transfer portal, including former Cincinnati 7-footer Chris Vogt, who now comes off the bench for the Badgers. Starting in the middle for Wisconsin is 7-foot sophomore Steven Crowl from Eastview High School in Minnesota.

Rebounding margin

The Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-3.6) last season under Richard Pitino – and they're even worse in Johnson's first year.

The Gophers are 13th in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-6.2) overall and 354th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (19.0), per Kenpom.

Johnson's philosophy is to give up crashing the offensive boards to hustle back for transition defense, so that can skew the offensive rebounding numbers (league-worst 6.5 per game).

In Big Ten play, the rebounding margin between the Gophers and their opponents has been rather significant at conference-worst minus-10.8. Only Nebraska is even close at minus-9.7.

In Thursday's loss to the Buckeyes, the Gophers were outrebounded 48-22, which included 27 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds. That was the most offensive rebounds allowed since Iowa had 27 in a double overtime loss at Minnesota on Christmas Day 2020.

Three and D

Last season, the Gophers shot a program-low 28.4% from three, but they've made a jump to 35.5% this season. They're better at three-point defense holding opponents to 28.6% shooting, ranking 16th in Division I and first in the Big Ten.

In the Dec. 11 upset in Ann Arbor, the Gophers held the Wolverines to 3-for-18 shooting from beyond the arc. But they were allowing the next five Big Ten opponents to shoot 39.3% (48-for-122) going into Thursday.

On the opposite end, the Gophers are shooting 32.6% (53-for-163) from beyond the arc in Big Ten games, which was skewed up with a 13-for-24 game from long distance against Rutgers (Payton Willis tied a school-record with eight threes).

The Badgers surprisingly are 12^th overall in the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage (32.8) and 10^th in three-point defense (33.8%) this season.

GAME INFO

Time: 12 p.m. CT, Sunday. Where: Kohl Center. Line: Wisconsin 11.5-point favorite. Series: Minnesota leads the series 99-98 but dropped last game 71-59 in Madison on Dec. 31, 2021. TV: BTN. Online/Live video: BTN-plus. Radio: 100.3 KFAN

PROJECTED STARTERS

MINNESOTA GOPHERS (11-6, 2-6 in conference)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Payton Willis 6-4 195 Sr. 16.2

G – E.J. Stephens 6-3 190 Sr. 11.7

G – Luke Loewe 6-4 190 Sr. 7.5

F – Jamison Battle 6-7 225 So. 17.8

F – Charlie Daniels 6-9 230 Sr. 1.9

Key reserves– Sean Sutherlin, G/F, 6-5, Sr., 7.3 ppg; Treyton Thompson, F, 6-11, Fr., 2.7 ppg.

Coach: Ben Johnson 11-6 (1st season)

Notable: Senior Eric Curry, who has six double figure scoring games this season, is a game-time decision to play Sunday against the Badgers. Curry scored a career-high 18 and 19 points in losses against Michigan State. After having three major injuries in his career, the 23-year-old Memphis native has been playing the best basketball of his career, also having his first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds on Dec. 22 against Wisconsin-Green Bay. … Junior forwards Parker Fox (Northern State transfer) and Isaiah Ihnen are sidelined indefinitely after offseason knee surgery. Fox, who tore his ACL and MCL in late March, is nine months recovered and could be cleared to practice soon. But it still appears that both Fox and Ihnen will sit out this season.

NO. 11 WISCONSIN BADGERS (16-3, 7-2)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Chucky Hepburn 6-2 Fr. 7.4

G – Brad Davison 6-4 Sr. 15.7

F – Johnny Davis 6-5 So. 21.7

F – Tyler Wahl 6-9 6-9 Jr. 10.6

C – Steven Crowl 7-0 So. 9.0

Reserves – Chris Vogt, C, 7-0, Sr., 2.7 ppg; Lorne Bowman IV, G, 6-2, So., 3.1 ppg; Ben Carlson, F, 6-9, So., 2.1 ppg; Carter Gilmore, F, 6-8, Fr., 1.1 ppg; Jacobi Neath, G, 6-5, Sr., 2.3 ppg.

Coach: Greg Gard 135-73 (7th season)

Notable: The Badgers have been a model of consistency with eight wins in the past nine games, including 73-65 at Nebraska on Thursday. They already have four road wins in conference games, one away from their season total in 2020-21. Wisconsin, which won 71-59 vs. the Gophers at home last season, have only two losses (2009 and 2019) in Madison in the series since 1994. … Junior Tyler Wahl, who is from Lakeville, Minn., returned from an ankle injury Thursday to have four points and 10 rebounds. He's still averaging 15.0 points and 8.4 rebounds in his last five games.

Fuller's score prediction (Picks record: 12-5): Wisconsin 68, Gophers 61.