The stats don’t lie: Freshman Jack Janicki’s amazing performance against Purdue
The Kamari McGee ejection sent a tidal wave of vibes throughout the Wisconsin bench. It rallied the team, led to deeper leadership, and even got one freshman some extra minutes. Jack Janicki came into the game and led a surge of scoring for the Badgers, which Purdue never recovered from.
HIS NAME IS JACK JANICKI, AND HE IS A FRESHMAN
Jack Janicki has two 3-pointers in the 2nd Half – good for a career high 11 points!
WIS 71, PUR 60 pic.twitter.com/aez3vhBR3e
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) February 15, 2025
Jack Janicki’s scoring push for Wisconsin in the second half of the Purdue game helped the Badgers win
Janicki played 17 minutes, which isn’t quite his season high, but it’s close (19 minutes against Arizona takes the cake). However, what he did in those 17 minutes elevated his team, boosted the team’s scoring, and ignited a fanbase. He went 4-6 from the field, 3-4 from three, one rebound, two assists, one block, and 11 points.
What McGee usually is to this team off the bench, it was Janicki who pulled it off for Wisconsin. Head coach Greg Gard, after the game, heaped praise on him, “Boy, as a freshman, first time ever here to come in and do that. On the court, he responded in a way, had an impact in the game to what we’ve seen him do in practice.”
Janicki joined the Wisconsin Badgers last season as a preferred walk-on and red-shirted all of last season. He turned down other scholarship offers to play for Wisconsin but still needed a lot of development to be ready. What he has done in one year to get to a point where he is dropping baskets and blocking shots on the No. 7 team in the nation is incredible.
The stats themselves are impressive; that he can put together that stat line in 17 minutes of work off the bench is fantastic. Yet, it’s the story of betting on himself, joining a school as a walk-on, and becoming the spark the team needed to pull off the big upset in Mackey Arena.
