Greg Gard praises Wisconsin freshman after huge road win over Minnesota

Wisconsin basketball (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten) secured a much-needed 74-67 win over Minnesota (15-15, 7-12 Big Ten) on Wednesday at Williams Arena.

Versatile sophomore guard John Blackwell propelled UW to the win with 25 points, 11 rebounds and two assists off 7-of-8 shooting from the free throw line in 38 minutes of play. Veteran wing John Tonje also finished with 18 points and seven boards, while Steven Crowl dropped 10 points and three rebounds in his final game in his home state.

While the program staples dominated the score sheet, the Badgers received their most timely contributions from a pair of bench contributors.

Veteran forward Carter Gilmore and redshirt freshman Jack Janicki erupted in the second half with 14 combined points, in addition to combined game-wide totals of five rebounds and five assists. Janicki, a White Bear Lake, Minnesota, native, poured in three of the game’s most important buckets in the final eight minutes of play.

Outside of just scoring, Janicki also energized the Badgers’ sideline and the atmosphere throughout Williams Arena. He even chipped a tooth when fighting for a loose-ball rebound in the final 30 seconds of play.

After the win, Gard commented on Janicki’s strong performance against the Golden Gophers.

“It’s the first time playing here for him,” Greg Gard said after the game. “He’s a freshman. I thought even early was going too fast, he was a wound up and he’s always playing with a lot of energy and playing fast. But I thought he just over-pursued some things early. He going a little bit too fast but, he settled in. His activity obviously was huge in terms of buckets, deflections, things he does with his activity. That’s probably the best word I can come up with for his contribution. And we needed him, with [John] Tonje in some foul trouble. He had to play a lot of minutes and he was able to produce and help us.”

This isn’t the first time Janicki has produced in a big spot for UW. On Nov. 15 against Arizona, the walk-on freshman dropped nine points off a pair of three-pointers. Three months later, he scored 11 key points during the second half of the Badgers’ big win over Purdue in West Lafayette. At this pace, he’s set to emerge as one of the program’s spark plugs over the next few years.

Wisconsin returns to the hardwood on March 8 against the Penn State Nittany Lions in Madison.