Steven Crowl credits 'dominate' mindset in Wisconsin win over Virginia

The Wisconsin Badgers were able to take down the No. 24 ranked Virginia Cavaliers in the opening round of the Fort Myers Tip-Off. The Badgers won in convincing fashion 65-41 in a game that they led wire to wire. A huge part of their keys to success on Monday night was the play of big man Steven Crowl, who finished the game with his fifth career double-double.

Crowl’s 15 points and 10 rebounds were the story of the night, as Virginia had no answer for Wisconsin’s interior game. Following the win, the seven-foot junior weighed in on his performance against the Cavaliers and also revealed the message head coach Greg Gard delivered to the team down the stretch.

“Just aggressive early. Coaches have been on me about having the ‘dominate’ mindset,” said Crowl. “They’ve done a good job of being on me about that. And just as the team, we need to start a little faster. We didn’t do it in the past couple of games. I think we did a great job today.

“‘Finish.’ Finish has been the word for us since last year. We didn’t finish games. Coming in this year, we started a little bit on and off. But the word has been ‘finish’ for us, and he’s been on us about that.”

Along with Crowl, guard Chucky Hepburn and forward Tyler Wahl played big minutes for Wisconsin, helping to limit Virginia to just 41 points. And although the box scores won’t reflect how impactful they were on the floor, Crowl took a moment to praise his two teammate’s efforts on Monday night.

“Huge. Some of the stuff he does doesn’t even show up in the box score. But just him commanding the ball and just being present, he is just huge for us… Like Chucky, sometimes he does the stuff that’s not always in the box score. But those two guys; they’re magnificent players, and they’re even greater people off the court.”

Within Wisconsin Adventist to 3-2 on the season, add to the next round of the Fort Myers Tip-Off. The Badgers’ next opponent will be the winner out of the SMU Mustangs and the West Virginia Mountaineers. That game directly follows Wisconsin’s game with Virginia.