In March, stars step up. That was the case for Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis on Friday night. Despite early struggles with Colgate, the Badgers rode the B1G Player of the Year to a first-round victory.

Davis scored a total of 25 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in the win. He really stepped up down the stretch, scoring the final 14 points of the game for the Badgers — including a 3-pointer with 1:28 left to give his team a 9-point advantage.

That shot proved to be the dagger.

After the game, Davis was asked about Friday’s game in front of a home-like crowd in Milwaukee. He said Wisconsin wasn’t going to be upset int he first round.

“There was no way we were going to take an upset in our home state, pretty much a home game,” Davis said following the contest. “But we’ve got to do it again on Sunday.”

Davis also said that one of the biggest differences in the game was when he decided to step up defensively. He got more engaged on that end of the floor, which caused issues for Colgate’s hot shooting.

“I just stopped being lazy on defense and non-fundamental,” he said. “That’s all it was.”

Davis did what the B1G Player of the Year is supposed to do in that situation. If he can do it again, the Badgers will be able to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16.

Wisconsin will play No. 11 seed Iowa State on Sunday at 6:10 p.m. ET on TNT.