The Wisconsin Badgers had to dig a little deeper on their bench on Wednesday night but eventually pulled away to beat McNeese State 83-63 at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers were short-handed to start, playing with old Kobe King who injured his ankle in practice on Monday.  Then they had to deal with Nate Reuvers foul trouble for much of the game.

With the Badgers off to a slow start, coach Greg Gard went to his bench and called on the likes of Tyler Wahl and Walt McGrory.  McGrory is a walk-on and one of his biggest roles is testing the starters in practice as a member of the scout team.

McGrory had combined for just 11 points in 22 games in his first two seasons, hadn’t played in the Badgers first two games.  But he set a personal best with 24 minutes and a career high 9 points last night.

It was McGrory and Brad Davison who supplied most of the first half firepower.  Davison finished with a season high 24-points, making 3 of 4 three-pointers, 7 of 8 shots overall and a perfect 7 of 7 at the free throw line. [Read more…]