If De’Ron Davis was to grade his IU career to date, the self-assigned marks from the junior forward would be harsh.
“My freshman year was a F,” Davis said. “My sophomore year was a D. So this year is a little bit better, but it’s not done yet.”
Davis will get a chance to raise his own grade of his junior season at 9 p.m. Tuesday when IU plays Wisconsin at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The combination of Davis and senior forward Juwan Morgan will be crucial to the Hoosiers' chances against the Badgers, given they will be tasked with containing Wisconsin redshirt senior forward Ethan Happ. A former Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-American, Happ is the first Big Ten player in more than 30 years to score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds during his career.
Davis played 17 or more minutes for IU just once during the first 18 games of the season, before the lingering effects of an ankle injury meant he would be limited in January. But Davis has returned for IU’s last six games, and ahead of Tuesday night's home game against Wisconsin, he's undertaken an offensive renaissance.
Each of the past six games has seen Davis play at least 17 minutes and make 50 percent or more of his shots. Some of these appearances saw him come off IU’s bench, but Davis has cracked the IU starting lineup in recent weeks. Davis replaced sophomore forward Justin Smith as a starter for the last three games.
“He’s definitely been a big boost for us,” IU Coach Archie Miller said on Feb. 15, just before the lineup change was made. “Gives us another guy offensively that can play a little bit with his back to the basket and reading defenses.”
One of the reasons for Davis’ inclusion in the starting lineup, aside from being a more physical presence and a better passer than Smith, is the offensive sets IU can run with Davis and Morgan in the frontcourt.
While Davis and Morgan both got into first-half foul trouble during last Friday’s loss at Iowa, the time they spent together on the court offered a glimpse at the new IU offense set to face Wisconsin.
Davis said the focus in preparation for Iowa was starting off each half strong, something the Hoosiers did with 8-0 and 6-0 runs to begin the first and second halves respectively. Five of those initial eight points came from Davis, while Morgan contributed four of the six points in the opening second-half run.
The two forwards play off each other well, both have the strength to finish through contact and can provide sturdy defensive presences around the rim, two critical factors when dealing with Happ as an opponent.
“Number one, it gets Juwan moving around a little bit more with different players guarding him,” Miller said. “With Juwan being able to move on the perimeter, you have some inside-outside.”
While Morgan’s 3-point shooting has left much to be desired, making just 10 of his 49 attempts in conference play, this concept and model will likely be repeated Tuesday night.
The past two seasons have each seen Davis make more than 60 percent of his field goals, although tearing an Achilles tendon in his right leg in January 2018 robbed him of the rest of his sophomore season. Davis only played 15 games during the 2017-18 season, but he started all of those games and averaged 9.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest.
Recovering from that 2018 injury has meant Miller and his staff have had to be selective when determining how much Davis plays this season.
But just minutes after Friday’s overtime loss to Iowa, Davis wasn’t focused on Happ, or the Badgers or the distant future, but rather the immediate one.
“We gotta practice on Sunday and that’s all I’m focused on,” Davis said. “Getting better on Sunday.”
