A couple of Minnesota natives helped the Wisconsin Badgers leave Williams Arena with a victory over the Gophers men’s basketball team, 56-51, Wednesday night.
Nathan Ruevers, a 6-foot-7 forward from Lakeville, finished with nine points, eight rebounds and seven blocks while point guard Brad Davison (Maple Grove) had 10 points and helped lead a spirited defensive effort for the 19th-ranked Badgers.
But marring the Big Ten border battle was a controversial play in which Davison has been accused of intentionally sticking his foot beneath Gophers star Jordan Murphy as Murphy was coming down after leaping to grab a rebound.
Anyone catch Brad Davison's attempt at taking out Jordan Murphy? #Gophers @NadineBabu @GopherHole pic.twitter.com/xlbE7H6jxE
— Andy Habhegger (@Habby831) February 7, 2019
Murphy stumbled a bit but was otherwise unscathed, and it remains unclear if Davison, who is becoming known throughout the college basketball world as a bit of a villain, intentionally stuck his leg out.
Murphy’s mother thought it was a dirty play. She tweeted: “As Jordan’s mom, I don’t understand how this okay. My son could really get hurt!”
“There were a couple plays where it was pretty close to being a foul, or being something more than that,” said Murphy when asked about the play. “I know he has a reputation but he didn’t do anything like that tonight that I saw.”
Davison, a former All-State guard for Maple Grove High School, was given a Flagrant 1 foul in December when a referee saw him deliver a jab below the belt of a Marquette player.
Brad Davison transforming into the villain of college basketball with a nut shot. pic.twitter.com/Zg9rBprcxg
— Bobby Reagan (@BarstoolReags) December 9, 2018
In a game last season between the Gophers and Badgers, former Minnesota point guard Nate Mason dribbled toward the basket in a tie game with just seconds left on the clock and was tripped by Davison, although there was no call on the play. It left Mason with a nasty bruise on his leg.
In case anyone forgot…Brad Davison has a very classy reputation playing the #Gophers. https://t.co/DtSGxGabyX (55 seconds in) pic.twitter.com/pUaNL6OC9V
— Nadine Babu (@NadineBabu) February 7, 2019
