# 2020–21 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Badgers were led by sixth-year head coach Greg Gard and played their home games at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 18–13, 10–10 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Penn State before losing to Iowa in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 9 seed in the South region. They defeated North Carolina in the first round before losing to No. 1-seeded (and eventual national champion) Baylor in the second round.

## Previous season

The Badgers finished the 2019–20 season 21–10, 14–6 in Big Ten play to finish tied for first place winning them a share of the Big Ten championship. The 2020 Big Ten men's basketball tournament and 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Brevin Pritzl | 1 | G | 6'3" | 204 | RS Senior | De Pere, WI | Graduated |
| Courtland Cuevas | 15 | F | 6'5" | 190 | Junior | Madison, WI | Walk-on; didn't return |
| Samad Qawi | 20 | F | 6'6" | 195 | Junior | Racine, WI | Walk-on; didn't return |
| Owen Hamilton | 30 | C | 7'0" | 266 | RS Sophomore | Prescott, WI | Walk-on; didn't return |
| Michael Ballard | 31 | G | 6'4" | 204 | RS Junior | Oak Park, IL | Walk-on; Graduated |

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Lorne Bowman PG | Detroit, MI | St. Mary's Preparatory | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Nov 16, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Johnny Davis SG | La Crosse, WI | La Crosse Central High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 188 lb (85 kg) | Jun 15, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Jordan Davis SF | La Crosse, WI | La Crosse Central High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jun 15, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Steven Crowl C | Eagan, MN | Eastview High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 17, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Ben Carlson PF | Woodbury, MN | East Ridge High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Sep 18, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Wisconsin Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. "ESPN- Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019. ||||||

### 2021 Recruiting class

College recruiting information (2021) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Chucky Hepburn PG | Bellevue, NE | Bellevue West High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Sep 29, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 81 |||||||
| Matthew Mors PF | Yankton, SD | Yankton High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 29, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 |||||||
| Chris Hodges PF | Schaumburg, IL | Schaumburg High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Aug 15, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 77 |||||||
| Markus Ilver PF | Tallinn, Estonia | Western Reserve Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jan 13, 2021 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 Wisconsin Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020. "ESPN- Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 25, 2020* 9:00 p.m., BTN | No. 7 | Eastern Illinois | W 77–67 | 1–0 | 18 – Reuvers | 9 – Reuvers | 5 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| November 27, 2020* 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 7 | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | W 92–58 | 2–0 | 19 – Potter | 8 – Jon. Davis | 3 – Tied | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 1, 2020* 4:00 p.m., BTN | No. 4 | Green Bay | W 82–42 | 3–0 | 14 – Potter | 15 – Wahl | 5 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 4, 2020* 6:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 4 | at Marquette Rivalry | L 65–67 | 3–1 | 17 – Trice | 6 – Tied | 3 – Davison | Fiserv Forum Milwaukee, WI |
| December 9, 2020* 3:30 p.m., BTN | No. 13 | Rhode Island | W 73–62 | 4–1 | 23 – Davison | 7 – Potter | 4 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 15, 2020* 7:00 p.m., BTN | No. 12 | Loyola-Chicago | W 77–63 | 5–1 | 17 – Tied | 7 – Potter | 2 – Tied | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 16, 2020* 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 12 | Northern Iowa | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 19, 2020* 11:00 a.m., ESPN2 | No. 12 | No. 23 Louisville ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 85–48 | 6–1 | 20 – Potter | 7 – Potter | 5 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| Big Ten regular season |||||||||
| December 22, 2020 6:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 9 | Nebraska | W 67–53 | 7–1 (1–0) | 15 – Davison | 11 – Potter | 7 – Davison | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 25, 2020 11:30 a.m., FOX | No. 9 | at No. 12 Michigan State Christmas Day | W 85–76 | 8–1 (2–0) | 29 – Trice | 6 – Potter | 5 – Potter | Breslin Center Lansing, MI |
| December 28, 2020 6:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 6 | Maryland | L 64–70 | 8–2 (2–1) | 25 – Trice | 6 – Tied | 4 – Davison | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 31, 2020 3:30 p.m., BTN | No. 6 | No. 21 Minnesota New Year's Eve | W 71–59 | 9–2 (3–1) | 18 – Potter | 11 – Potter | 5 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| January 7, 2021 6:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 8 | Indiana | W 80–73 $^{2OT}$ | 10–2 (4–1) | 21 – Trice | 8 – Jon. Davis | 7 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| January 12, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 9 | at No. 7 Michigan | L 54–77 | 10–3 (4–2) | 20 – Trice | 6 – Tied | 3 – Anderson | Crisler Center (74) Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 15, 2021 7:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 9 | at Rutgers | W 60–54 | 11–3 (5–2) | 14 – Tied | 8 – Potter | 5 – Trice | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ |
| January 20, 2021 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 10 | Northwestern | W 68–52 | 12–3 (6–2) | 14 – Wahl | 6 – Tied | 4 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| January 23, 2021 3:00 p.m., CBS | No. 10 | No. 15 Ohio State | L 62–74 | 12–4 (6–3) | 13 – Ford | 7 – Ford | 8 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| January 27, 2021 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 14 | at Maryland | W 61–55 | 13–4 (7–3) | 23 – Potter | 12 – Potter | 3 – Tied | Xfinity Center College Park, MD |
| January 30, 2021 2:00 p.m., BTN | No. 14 | at Penn State | L 71–81 | 13–5 (7–4) | 18 – Reuvers | 10 – Wahl | 3 – Tied | Bryce Jordan Center (260) University Park, PA |
| February 2, 2021 7:30 p.m., BTN | No. 19 | Penn State | W 72–56 | 14–5 (8–4) | 17 – Jon. Davis | 8 – Potter | 6 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| February 6, 2021 1:30 p.m., FOX | No. 19 | at No. 12 Illinois | L 60–75 | 14–6 (8–5) | 22 – Trice | 4 – Tied | 3 – Ford | State Farm Center (180) Champaign, IL |
| February 10, 2021 8:30 p.m., BTN | No. 21 | at Nebraska | W 61–48 | 15–6 (9–5) | 10 – Jon. Davis | 8 – Trice | 3 – Tied | Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE |
| February 14, 2021 12:00 p.m., CBS | No. 21 | No. 3 Michigan | L 59–67 | 15–7 (9–6) | 16 – Trice | 6 – Tied | 4 – Anderson | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| February 18, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 21 | No. 11 Iowa | L 62–77 | 15–8 (9–7) | 23 – Potter | 11 – Potter | 9 – Trice | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| February 21, 2021 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 21 | at Northwestern | W 68–51 | 16–8 (10–7) | 19 – Potter | 8 – Potter | 5 – Trice | Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| February 27, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 23 | No. 5 Illinois | L 69–74 | 16–9 (10–8) | 29 – Trice | 6 – Potter | 2 – Tied | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| March 2, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 25 | at No. 23 Purdue | L 69–73 | 16–10 (10–9) | 15 – Davison | 10 – Wahl | 4 – Trice | Mackey Arena (250) West Lafayette, IN |
| March 7, 2021 11:30 a.m., FOX | No. 25 | at No. 5 Iowa | L 73–77 | 16–11 (10–10) | 23 – Potter | 5 – Davison | 4 – Davison | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (582) Iowa City, IA |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2021 8:00 p.m., BTN | (6) | vs. (11) Penn State Second Round | W 75–74 | 17–11 | 17 – Ford | 5 – Wahl | 9 – Trice | Lucas Oil Stadium (6,769) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 12, 2021 8:00 p.m., BTN | (6) | vs. (3) No. 5 Iowa Quarterfinals | L 57–62 | 17–12 | 19 – Trice | 8 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Lucas Oil Stadium (7,735) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 19, 2021* 6:10 p.m., CBS | (9 S) | vs. (8 S) North Carolina First Round | W 85–62 | 18–12 | 29 – Davison | 6 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Mackey Arena (1,182) West Lafayette, IN |
| March 21, 2021* 1:40 p.m., CBS | (9 S) | vs. (1 S) No. 3 Baylor Second Round | L 63–76 | 18–13 | 12 – Trice | 10 – Potter | 4 – Tied | Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,098) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | 7 | 4 | 13т | 12 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 25 | RV | RV | Not released |
| Coaches | 7 | 7^ | 13 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 24 | RV | RV | — | RV |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

## Player statistics

Individual player statistics (Final) :
| | | | Minutes | Minutes | Scoring | Scoring | Total FGs | Total FGs | Total FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | Free Throws | Free Throws | Free Throws | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | | | | | |
| Player | GP | GS | Tot | Avg | Pts | Avg | FG | FGA | Pct | 3FG | 3FA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Avg | A | TO | Blk | Stl | PF |
| Trice, D'Mitrik | 31 | 31 | 1032 | 33.3 | 430 | 13.9 | 144 | 351 | .410 | 62 | 166 | .373 | 80 | 101 | .792 | 3 | 102 | 105 | 3.4 | 123 | 56 | 1 | 26 | 51 |
| Potter, Micah | 31 | 20 | 689 | 22.2 | 389 | 12.5 | 141 | 280 | .504 | 39 | 101 | .386 | 68 | 81 | .840 | 56 | 128 | 184 | 5.9 | 42 | 42 | 23 | 16 | 63 |
| Davison, Brad | 31 | 31 | 959 | 30.9 | 311 | 10.0 | 91 | 263 | .346 | 63 | 161 | .391 | 66 | 76 | .868 | 10 | 99 | 109 | 3.5 | 73 | 27 | 0 | 33 | 72 |
| Ford, Aleem | 31 | 31 | 813 | 26.2 | 269 | 8.7 | 99 | 244 | .406 | 46 | 135 | .341 | 25 | 32 | .781 | 26 | 104 | 130 | 4.2 | 34 | 29 | 16 | 19 | 63 |
| Reuvers, Nate | 31 | 24 | 649 | 20.9 | 257 | 8.3 | 100 | 238 | .420 | 18 | 63 | .286 | 39 | 50 | .780 | 30 | 71 | 101 | 3.3 | 22 | 31 | 40 | 8 | 67 |
| Davis, Jonathan | 31 | 0 | 755 | 24.4 | 218 | 7.0 | 86 | 195 | .441 | 14 | 36 | .389 | 32 | 44 | .727 | 34 | 94 | 128 | 4.1 | 35 | 34 | 18 | 34 | 66 |
| Wahl, Tyler | 31 | 18 | 767 | 24.7 | 160 | 5.2 | 58 | 133 | .436 | 10 | 36 | .278 | 34 | 60 | .567 | 33 | 100 | 133 | 4.3 | 42 | 28 | 21 | 31 | 68 |
| Anderson, Trevor | 29 | 0 | 411 | 14.2 | 91 | 3.1 | 33 | 62 | .532 | 13 | 24 | .542 | 12 | 18 | .667 | 8 | 33 | 41 | 1.4 | 36 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 23 |
| Carlson, Ben | 7 | 0 | 64 | 9.1 | 20 | 2.9 | 6 | 11 | .545 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 7 | 8 | .875 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0.9 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| Crowl, Steven | 12 | 0 | 36 | 3.0 | 8 | 0.7 | 4 | 8 | .500 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | - | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0.8 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Davis, Jordan | 13 | 0 | 19 | 1.5 | 8 | 0.6 | 3 | 6 | .500 | 2 | 5 | .400 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hedstrom, Joe | 9 | 0 | 16 | 1.8 | 4 | 0.4 | 1 | 4 | .250 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Gilmore, Carter | 9 | 0 | 17 | 1.9 | 2 | 0.2 | 1 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Taphorn, Justin | 7 | 0 | 11 | 1.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| McGrory, Walt | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Higginbottom, Carter | 9 | 0 | 11 | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 31 | - | 6250 | - | 2167 | 69.9 | 767 | 1805 | .425 | 269 | 737 | .365 | 364 | 474 | .768 | 256 | 785 | 1041 | 33.6 | 414 | 280 | 123 | 175 | 500 |
| Opponents | 31 | - | 6250 | - | 2003 | 64.6 | 729 | 1726 | .422 | 194 | 579 | .335 | 351 | 491 | .715 | 264 | 820 | 1084 | 35.0 | 385 | 356 | 115 | 135 | 501 |