Davis, No. 13 Badgers look for redemption Thursday vs. 16th-ranked Ohio State

The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team looks for a bit of redemption Thursday, up against Ohio State.

The last time these teams played, a month ago, the 16th-ranked Buckeyes (10-3) — now ranked lower than UW — destroyed the Badgers 73-55.

Now, Wisconsin (13-2) is ranked 13th in the nation — a 10-spot jump in the rankings from last week, thanks mostly to La Crosse native Johnny Davis’ 37-point performance in knocking off No. 3 Purdue last week.

Davis heads into the game 6 p.m. game at the Kohl Center and on ESPN2 with a national spotlight. He was getting NBA Top 5 draft buzz before, but now he’s likely to have a target on his back against every team he faces.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore is averaging 22.3 points on 45.2% shooting from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. He’s leading Wisconsin in rebounds (7.4), assists (2.6) and steals (1.4).

Davis, who was named co-Big 10 Player of the Week on Monday, has scored 15 or more points every game this season — something he did only once last year, when he averaged 7.0 points a game.

The only other loss this season for Wisconsin came Nov. 15 against Providence 63-58 — a game Davis did not play. The Friars (14-2) weren’t ranked at the time, but are now 23rd in the nation.