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NC State excited about rematch with Wisconsin, Brad Davison

Sometimes one game can be associated with a player’s name for what he did during that contest.

The NC State at Wisconsin rematch Wednesday night at PNC Arena can be summed up in many various ways, but current junior guard Brad Davison is the easiest link. Davison was a charge-taking machine last year, and it cost the Wolfpack in the 79-75 loss in Madison, Wis., on Nov. 27, 2018.

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Wisconsin junior guard Brad Davison could be a target of NC State fans on Wednesday. He took four charges in last year's win for the Badgers.
Wisconsin junior guard Brad Davison could be a target of NC State fans on Wednesday. He took four charges in last year's win for the Badgers. (Darren Lee)

What proved frustrating is how well NC State had played for the first 38 minutes of the contest only to see the game slip away, in part because of Davison's defensive tactics. NCSU had led by as many as 13 points at the start of the second half, but Wisconsin's three-pointers kept the Badgers within striking distance.

Then-senior center Ethan Happ split a pair of free throws with 1:06 left to give the Badgers a 74-73 lead. Wisconsin closed out the win, leaving NC State frustrated over the golden opportunity lost.

NC State only committed 11 turnovers, but Davison’s skill at taking charges left a lasting impression.

“We ran over some guys at least five times, and we are going to try not to do that this time,” NCSU head coach Kevin Keatts said. “We are going to try and get around guys without running through them. The kid is a good defensive player.

“You go back and look at that tape, he sold the referees on a couple of those charges that he drew, which were questionable. We’ve moved on.”

NC State has worked with various players to be under control when driving to the rim. Keatts pointed out that redshirt junior wing Devon Daniels is always aggressive at slashing to the basket and needed to be more careful.

“You look at him last year, a lot of teams drew charges on him because he’s a one-leg leaper,” Keatts said. “He needs to go off two feet and avoid the contact.”

Davison didn’t shoot well against NC State, only going 3 of 9 from the field while scoring 12 points, but his teammates picked up the slack in that department.

The Wisconsin loss last year could also be attributed to point guard D’Mitrik Trice and power forward Aleem Ford combining to go 8 of 12 on three-pointers en route to 30 points between them. Ford's performance proved especially frustrating. Ford had missed some fall camp due to an injury and was scoreless in his first three games prior to playing the Wolfpack. He shot 4 of 7 from the field, scored 12 points and grabbed three boards in 21 minutes off the bench, and only reached double figures twice the rest of the season.

Davison, Trice and Ford are all back as juniors for the rematch at NC State. NCSU has been looking for revenge ever since the ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups were released. After falling to Georgia Tech and Memphis, achieving an NCAA Tournament résumé win is also needed.

Happ was the Badgers’ star in the post last year, but has graduated. Redshirt junior Nate Reuvers has emerged this season in his place. The slender 6-11, 235-pound Reuvers is averaging 15.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game through seven contests. He also is a better outside shooter than Happ, going 7 of 22 on three-pointers, but not as physical or polished on the block.

“Reuvers is playing at a high level,” Keatts said. “He’s 7-feet and tough to guard.”

Wisconsin suffered back-to-back losses to Richmond and New Mexico in the Legends Classic Nov. 25-26 in Brooklyn, N.Y. NC State is fresh from losing to Memphis in the same location.

“We need to get back to guys starting to play together a little bit more,” Keatts said. “What was encouraging is that when we got down, you don’t know much about your team early in the season, and how they will react to being down. That was the first time we were down 16-17 points.”

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