Gophers

Maple Grove's Brad Davison drew four charges in Badgers' win, including a controversial game-changer

Brad Davison drew four charges during the Badgers' 79-75 victory over North Carolina State on Tuesday, including one with 16 seconds left that helped seal the win

November 28, 2018 at 5:45AM

Wisconsin's Kobe King (23), Brad Davison (34) and Ethan Happ (22) celebrate as North Carolina State's DJ Funderburk (0) walks off the court during Wisconsin's 79-75 win in an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis) (Mike Nelson — Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Not one. Not two. Not three. Not four.

Wait.

There were four.

This isn't LeBron James' infamous declaration about the number of NBA championships the Miami Heat would win when its Big Three landed there in 2010.

This is Minnesota native Brad Davison we're talking about.

The Maple Grove graduate drew an uncanny four charges during the Badgers' 79-75 victory over North Carolina State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday, including one with 16 seconds left that helped seal the win with the Badgers up 76-73. It also handed the Wolfpack its first loss of the season (6-1).

But many questioned the validity of the call, including two "SportsCenter" anchors at the top of their broadcast on ESPN.

"We were going to start with college basketball, but we both took exception to that late charge call in the N.C. State game," anchor Kenny Mayne said of he and his co-host Buccigross. At about that same time Buccigross chimed in with Charles Barkley's trademark "turrible" to describe the call.

Regardless, ESPN color commentator and one-time Timberwolf Robbie Hummel called it "the biggest play of the game" during the broadcast while also crediting Davison for "playing great position defense" throughout the game.

Decide for yourself whether the charge in the final minute was legit or not (the sequence starts at the 11-second mark):

Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted that Davison tried to draw a number of charges during the team's recent tournament in the Bahamas but got called for "a lot of blocking fouls." Davison told Potrykus he is "going to play D the only way he knows to play it."

In addition to the four charges, the sophomore guard scored 12 points on 3-for-9 shooting with two assists and two rebounds. It was the third time in six games this season he scored in double figures.

Gophers fans will get their first look at Davison and the Badgers (6-1) when the two teams meet Thursday Jan. 3 in Madison and then again Wednesday Feb. 6 at the Barn.