# 2021–22 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Badgers were led by seventh-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 25–8, 15–5 in Big Ten play to earn a share of the regular season championship. As the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost Michigan State in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest region, the school's 26th trip to the tournament. They defeated Colgate in the First Round before being upset by No. 11 seed Iowa State in the Second Round.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Badgers finished the 2020–21 season 18–13, 10–10 in Big Ten play to finish tied for sixth place. They defeated Penn State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, but lost to Iowa in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their 25th trip to the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 9 seed in the South region. The Badgers defeated North Carolina in the First Round before losing to eventual National champion Baylor in the Second Round.

## Offseason
### Departures

All players listed as "graduated" are tentative departures unless otherwise noted. Due to COVID-19, the NCAA ruled that the 2020–21 season would not count against the college eligibility of any basketball player. Every senior in the 2020–21 season has the option to return for 2021–22.
Wisconsin Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| D'Mitrik Trice | 0 | G | 6'0" | 184 | Senior | Huber Heights, OH | Graduated |
| Aleem Ford | 2 | F | 6'8" | 217 | Senior | Lawrenceville, GA | Graduated |
| Walt McGrory | 3 | G | 6'3" | 205 | Senior | Edina, MN | Transferred to South Dakota |
| Micah Potter | 11 | F | 6'10" | 248 | Senior | Mentor, OH | Graduated |
| Trevor Anderson | 12 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Senior | Stevens Point, WI | Transferred to Valparaiso |
| Joe Hedstrom | 32 | C | 7'0" | 240 | Sophomore | Hopkins, MN | Transferred to Valparaiso |
| Nate Reuvers | 35 | F | 6'11" | 235 | Senior | Lakeville, MN | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

Wisconsin Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jahcobi Neath | 0 | G | 6'4" | 196 | Junior | Toronto, ON | Wake Forest |
| Isaac Lindsey | 10 | G | 6'4" | 184 | Sophomore | Mineral Point, WI | UNLV |
| Chris Vogt | 33 | C | 7'0" | 257 | Graduate Student | Mayfield, KY | Cincinnati |

### 2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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 |
| Recruiting 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. ||||||

### Returning players

On April 14, 2021 Brad Davison announced via Instagram that he is returning for the 2021–22 season his final year of eligibility. In the post he would say "After taking some time to reflect, there is no place I would rather be than Madison! Being a Badger is a privilege. I am grateful for one last ride with my coaches and teammates this upcoming season! I would not want to go out any other way than playing in front of Badger Nation at the Kohl Center!". He is the only senior of seven from the 2020–21 season that decided to return to Wisconsin to use his last year of eligibility.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 29, 2021* 6:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Wisconsin–Whitewater | W 76–50 | – | 18 – Crowl | 7 – Tied | 4 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (15,997) Madison, WI |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | St. Francis Brooklyn | W 81–58 | 1–0 | 15 – Jon. Davis | 9 – Vogt | 5 – Jon. Davis | Kohl Center (15,735) Madison, WI |
| November 12, 2021* 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Green Bay | W 72–34 | 2–0 | 18 – Crowl | 7 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Kohl Center (16,005) Madison, WI |
| November 15, 2021* 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | Providence Gavitt Tipoff Games | L 58–63 | 2–1 | 25 – Davison | 7 – Davison | 2 – Tied | Kohl Center (15,773) Madison, WI |
| November 22, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Texas A&M Maui Invitational quarterfinal | W 69–58 | 3–1 | 21 – Jon. Davis | 9 – Jon. Davis | 3 – Davison | Michelob Ultra Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 23, 2021* 4:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. No. 12 Houston Maui Invitational semifinal | W 65–63 | 4–1 | 30 – Jon. Davis | 7 – Wahl | 3 – Hepburn | Michelob Ultra Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 24, 2021* 4:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Saint Mary's Maui Invitational championship | W 61–55 | 5–1 | 20 – Jon. Davis | 7 – Tied | 1 – Tied | Michelob Ultra Arena (2,901) Paradise, NV |
| December 1, 2021* 8:15 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 23 | at Georgia Tech ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 70–66 | 6–1 | 27 – Davison | 6 – Tied | 5 – Jon. Davis | McCamish Pavilion (6,302) Atlanta, GA |
| December 4, 2021* 11:30 a.m., FOX | No. 23 | Marquette Rivalry | W 89–76 | 7–1 | 25 – Jon. Davis | 8 – Crowl | 6 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| December 8, 2021 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 22 | Indiana | W 64–59 | 8–1 (1–0) | 23 – Jon. Davis | 12 – Wahl | 3 – Tied | Kohl Center (16,013) Madison, WI |
| December 11, 2021 11:00 a.m., BTN | No. 22 | at No. 21 Ohio State | L 55–73 | 8–2 (1–1) | 24 – Jon. Davis | 7 – Jon. Davis | 3 – Jon. Davis | Value City Arena (13,856) Columbus, OH |
| December 15, 2021* 7:00 p.m., BTN | | Nicholls | W 71–68 | 9–2 | 19 – Davison | 7 – Neath | 2 – Tied | Kohl Center (15,752) Madison, WI |
| December 23, 2021* 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 24 | Morgan State | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Morgan State program | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Morgan State program | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Morgan State program | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Morgan State program | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Morgan State program | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 23, 2021* 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 24 | George Mason | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Wisconsin program | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Wisconsin program | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Wisconsin program | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Wisconsin program | Canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the Wisconsin program | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 29, 2021* 7:00 p.m., BTN | No. 24 | Illinois State | W 89–85 | 10–2 | 21 – Crowl | 11 – Jon. Davis | 4 – Tied | Kohl Center (15,718) Madison, WI |
| January 3, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 23 | at No. 3 Purdue | W 74–69 | 11–2 (2–1) | 37 – Jon. Davis | 14 – Jon. Davis | 3 – Tied | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 6, 2022 8:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 23 | Iowa | W 87–78 | 12–2 (3–1) | 26 – Jon. Davis | 9 – Tied | 5 – Jon. Davis | Kohl Center (15,212) Madison, WI |
| January 9, 2022 6:30 p.m., BTN | No. 23 | at Maryland | W 70–69 | 13–2 (4–1) | 21 – Wahl | 8 – Wahl | 2 – Tied | Xfinity Center (10,864) College Park, MD |
| January 13, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 13 | No. 16 Ohio State | W 78–68 | 14–2 (5–1) | 25 – Davison | 9 – Jon. Davis | 6 – Wahl | Kohl Center (15,571) Madison, WI |
| January 18, 2022 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 8 | at Northwestern | W 82–76 | 15–2 (6–1) | 27 – Jon. Davis | 11 – Wahl | 4 – Tied | Welsh–Ryan Arena (5,251) Evanston, IL |
| January 21, 2022 8:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 8 | No. 14 Michigan State | L 74–86 | 15–3 (6–2) | 25 – Jon. Davis | 5 – Jon. Davis | 4 – Jon. Davis | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| January 27, 2022 4:00 p.m., BTN | No. 11 | at Nebraska | W 73–65 | 16–3 (7–2) | 21 – Davison | 10 – Wahl | 4 – Davison | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,385) Lincoln, NE |
| January 30, 2022 12:00 p.m., BTN | No. 11 | Minnesota | W 66–60 | 17–3 (8–2) | 16 – Jon. Davis | 15 – Jon. Davis | 2 – Tied | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| February 2, 2022 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 11 | at No. 18 Illinois | L 67–80 | 17–4 (8–3) | 22 – Jon. Davis | 15 – Jon. Davis | 2 – Tied | State Farm Center (14,860) Champaign, IL |
| February 5, 2022 5:00 p.m., BTN | No. 11 | Penn State | W 51–49 | 18–4 (9–3) | 13 – Crowl | 9 – Jon. Davis | 5 – Crowl | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| February 8, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 14 | at No. 17 Michigan State | W 70–62 | 19–4 (10–3) | 25 – Jon. Davis | 6 – Jon. Davis | 3 – Tied | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| February 12, 2022 1:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 14 | Rutgers | L 65–73 | 19–5 (10–4) | 23 – Wahl | 8 – Jon. Davis | 3 – Tied | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| February 15, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 15 | at Indiana | W 74–69 | 20–5 (11–4) | 30 – Jon. Davis | 12 – Jon. Davis | 3 – Hepburn | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN |
| February 20, 2022 12:00 p.m., CBS | No. 15 | Michigan | W 77–63 | 21–5 (12–4) | 25 – Jon. Davis | 6 – Tied | 4 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| February 23, 2022 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 13 | at Minnesota | W 68–67 | 22–5 (13–4) | 20 – Crowl | 10 – Wahl | 3 – Tied | Williams Arena (11,761) Minneapolis, MN |
| February 26, 2022 5:00 p.m., BTN | No. 13 | at Rutgers | W 66–61 | 23–5 (14–4) | 19 – Jon. Davis | 9 – Wahl | 5 – Hepburn | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,227) Piscataway, NJ |
| March 1, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 10 | No. 8 Purdue | W 70–67 | 24–5 (15–4) | 19 – Wahl | 8 – Jon. Davis | 2 – Tied | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| March 6, 2022 1:00 p.m., BTN | No. 10 | Nebraska | L 73–74 | 24–6 (15–5) | 20 – Davison | 7 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2022 5:30 p.m., BTN | (2) No. 12 | vs. (7) Michigan State Quarterfinals | L 63–69 | 24–7 | 23 – Davison | 11 – Joh. Davis | 4 – Hepburn | Gainbridge Fieldhouse (16,415) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 18, 2022* 8:50 p.m., TBS | (3 MW) No. 14 | vs. (14 MW) Colgate First Round | W 67–60 | 25–7 | 25 – Jon. Davis | 9 – Wahl | 9 – Hepburn | Fiserv Forum (17,500) Milwaukee, WI |
| March 20, 2022* 5:10 p.m., TNT | (3 MW) No. 14 | vs. (11 MW) Iowa State Second Round | L 49–54 | 25–8 | 17 – Jon. Davis | 9 – Jon. Davis | 4 – Davison | Fiserv Forum (17,500) Milwaukee, WI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | 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 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | 23 | 22 | RV | 24 | 24 | 23 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 14 | Not released |
| Coaches | — | —^ | — | 21 | 17 | RV | 24 | 23 | 23 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 18 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

## Player statistics

Individual player statistics (Through 2021–22 season) :
| | | | 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 |
| Davis, Johnny | 31 | 31 | 1061 | 34.2 | 612 | 19.7 | 210 | 492 | .427 | 37 | 121 | .306 | 155 | 196 | .791 | 41 | 214 | 255 | 8.2 | 66 | 71 | 23 | 36 | 71 |
| Davison, Brad | 33 | 33 | 1136 | 34.4 | 464 | 14.1 | 139 | 362 | .384 | 78 | 225 | .347 | 108 | 125 | .864 | 11 | 121 | 132 | 4.0 | 69 | 29 | 0 | 28 | 79 |
| Wahl, Tyler | 32 | 32 | 796 | 30.5 | 366 | 11.4 | 145 | 281 | .516 | 6 | 37 | .162 | 70 | 100 | .700 | 52 | 137 | 189 | 5.9 | 49 | 52 | 25 | 37 | 80 |
| Crowl, Steven | 33 | 33 | 836 | 25.3 | 290 | 8.8 | 114 | 230 | .496 | 26 | 82 | .317 | 36 | 45 | .800 | 48 | 96 | 144 | 4.4 | 48 | 31 | 9 | 9 | 84 |
| Hepburn, Chucky | 33 | 33 | 1022 | 31.0 | 262 | 7.9 | 92 | 237 | .388 | 39 | 112 | .348 | 39 | 56 | .696 | 7 | 63 | 70 | 2.1 | 77 | 39 | 5 | 36 | 70 |
| Bowman II, Lorne | 22 | 0 | 228 | 10.4 | 66 | 3.0 | 21 | 61 | .344 | 12 | 30 | .400 | 12 | 25 | .480 | 3 | 21 | 24 | 1.1 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 24 |
| Vogt, Chris | 33 | 0 | 424 | 12.8 | 97 | 2.9 | 39 | 78 | .500 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 19 | 37 | .514 | 51 | 52 | 103 | 3.1 | 21 | 18 | 26 | 11 | 76 |
| Carlson, Ben | 32 | 2 | 292 | 9.1 | 52 | 1.6 | 22 | 66 | .333 | 1 | 21 | .048 | 7 | 13 | .538 | 25 | 40 | 65 | 2.0 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| Neath, Jahcobi | 23 | 1 | 224 | 9.7 | 37 | 1.6 | 11 | 43 | .256 | 4 | 18 | .222 | 11 | 15 | .733 | 9 | 25 | 34 | 1.5 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 |
| Davis, Jordan | 27 | 0 | 175 | 6.5 | 35 | 1.3 | 13 | 40 | .325 | 8 | 28 | .286 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 0.9 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 19 |
| Gilmore, Carter | 22 | 0 | 173 | 7.9 | 19 | 0.9 | 7 | 27 | .259 | 1 | 13 | .077 | 4 | 7 | .571 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 1.0 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 20 |
| Ilver, Markus | 8 | 0 | 29 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.6 | 1 | 8 | .125 | 0 | 5 | .000 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Lindsey, Isaac | 6 | 0 | 13 | 2.2 | 3 | 0.5 | 1 | 5 | .200 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Higginbottom, Carter | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .- | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Taphorn, Justin | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | .- | 0 | 0 | .- | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 33 | - | 6600 | - | 2308 | 69.9 | 815 | 1931 | .422 | 213 | 696 | .306 | 465 | 626 | .743 | 308 | 848 | 1156 | 35.0 | 365 | 287 | 97 | 175 | 554 |
| Opponents | 33 | - | 6600 | - | 2177 | 66.0 | 813 | 1870 | .435 | 204 | 628 | .325 | 347 | 508 | .683 | 274 | 876 | 1150 | 34.8 | 381 | 377 | 109 | 155 | 624 |