March Madness 2022: Wisconsin outlasts Colgate 67-60 as Johnny Davis leads comeback

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Johnny Davis offered a simple explanation for how Wisconsin stepped up down the stretch to avoid a first-round upset.

"We just stopped being lazy on defense and non-fundamental," the All-America guard and Big Ten player of the year said. "That’s all it was."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Davis scored Wisconsin's last 14 points and finished with 25 as the Big Ten co-champion Badgers came from behind to beat Colgate 67-60 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

The third-seeded Badgers (25-7) snapped Colgate's 15-game winning streak and advanced to a second-round game Sunday against No. 11 seed Iowa State (21-12). The Cyclones defeated LSU 59-54 earlier Friday.

Wisconsin's Johnny Davis shoots during the first half of a first round NCAA college basketball tournament game against Colgate Friday, March 18, 2022, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Wisconsin trailed by as many as five in the second half before going on a 10-0 run and holding Colgate scoreless for more than seven minutes. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard agreed with Davis' blunt assessment of what caused the turnaround.

"At least he's honest," Gard said.

Davis showed he’s all the way back from the injured left ankle that knocked the Big Ten player of the year out of the Badgers’ regular-season finale. Davis returned for the Big Ten Tournament but shot 3 of 19 in a quarterfinal loss to Michigan State, which also advanced Friday night.

After shooting 3 of 11 in the first half, Davis caught fire when the Badgers needed him. Steven Crowl's 3-pointer put Wisconsin ahead for good at 53-52 with 8:08 remaining.

From that point on, Davis took over.

"Th