MADISON – Steven Crowl attempted just two shots in Wisconsin’s loss to Purdue in the teams’ regular-season finale.

That tied his season-low mark, set Feb. 1 in a loss to Nebraska.

Crowl’s lack of scoring chances were partially the result of early foul trouble that limited him to 20-plus minutes and Purdue’s defensive scheme, which generally uses a smaller defender on Crowl and has 7-foot-4 Zach Edey play a one-man zone in the lane.

Nevertheless, as UW prepares for its game Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis, UW coach Greg Gard wants to see Crowl be more selfish and more aggressive once he gets the ball near the basket.

“He is very cautious,” Gard said after practice Tuesday. “That is why his assist-to-turnover ratio is pretty good. He is a good passer but (we’re) trying to have him be less conservative, specifically when he catches it. Go score right away.

“Not wait for traffic to come. Not wait for defense to load (up) and send another guy at the rim.”

Crowl is second on the team in assists with 62. He is third on the team in field-goal attempts (234) and fourth in free-throw attempts (86).

Crowl picked up his first two fouls at Purdue in a span of 55 seconds – with 11 minutes 23 seconds left in the first half and with 10:28 left. He sat out the remainder of the half, in part because Edey sat out the final 4:36 after picking up his second foul. He fouled out with 1:55 left in the game.

“Once you get early fouls and you sit for a little bit you get out of that mojo,” Crowl acknowledged. “I think you go back into the game and it does affect your aggressiveness defensively.

“Offensively, that is just on me. I’ve got to look to score a little bit more. Just go to the rim and try to score. Even if I miss it, be aggressive and try to get fouled.”

Greg Gard wants Markus Ilver to keep shooting

Markus Ilver for last few games has taken over as the primary reserve behind forward Tyler Wahl.

Ilver has become more dependable defensively, hasn’t shied away from physical play and offers more scoring potential than Carter Gilmore.

Unfortunately for UW, Ilver has struggled to score from the perimeter. He hit just 1 of 5 three-pointers in the 78-70 loss to Purdue and has hit just 2 of 12 three-point attempts in the last five games.

“It is a confidence thing when the lights go on,” Gard said. “It is hard because he hasn’t played a lot this year until recently and in those moments, he needs to knock some of those down. And he will. I have confidence in him.”

Gard ran a play for Ilver late at Purdue and the junior hit a corner three-pointer with 24 seconds left.

Purdue’s lead was trimmed to only 10 points but Gard was giving Ilver every chance to experience some success.

“I’d love nothing better than to see him knock a couple down,” Gard said, “because I think that would send his confidence through the roof.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Badgers look for more scoring from Steven Crowl, Markus Ilver