MADISON, Wis. – As he walked along the shore of the Meditteranean Sea in Nice, France, in August, Jordan Davis told the Big Ten Network crew filming in his face that his moment was coming. He could feel it, knowing what the University of Wisconsin needed from him and who he was developing into as a basketball player.
“I’m really happy this year, now that I have the opportunity to be a starter and be, like, one of the key role players on the team,” he said at the time. “I got a big smile just knowing that I’m one of those guys now that they look to. I can’t wait to play how I want to play.”
And while his first season as a college starter hasn’t been smooth sailing, there’s no question the junior has picked his spots aptly with perimeter shots and crashing the boards to make an impact.
“He does everything we need to do to win,” forward Carter Gilmore said of Davis. “I think that’s something our team does very well, and Jordan especially of just finding our role and finding what he can do to help the team in whatever way possible. He continues to work and provide whatever spark he can for us.”
Last year he was known as the twin brother of Johnny Davis, the All-American sophomore who led Wisconsin in points and rebounds before declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft. While not as flashy as his twin, in the last four games for No.14 Wisconsin (10-2, 2-0 Big Ten), Davis has had stretches that impacted the outcome.
In the Big Ten opener, he scored seven of his eight points and four of his six rebounds in the opening 9:44 of the first half, setting the table for the Badgers’ 64-59 win over No.13 Maryland.
He had only five points and two rebounds in a 78-75 overtime win at Iowa, but Davis hit a huge three-pointer with 1:43 left in the extra session to forge a 72-72 tie. Before that make, Davis’s last shot came with 14:51 left in regulation.
“I always try to keep a positive mindset,” Davis said. “I haven’t shot the ball as good as I want this year. You just got to keep shooting, hit some shots, keep doing my thing.”
Against Lehigh, Davis scored a career-high 14 points, including a career-high four triples, going 4-for-6 from behind the arc. He added nine on Friday against Western Michigan, helping push the Badgers’ winning streak to five heading into Tuesday’s Big Ten home game against Minnesota (6-6, 0-2).
“I just always try to stay confident,” Davis said. “You just got to get in the gym and shoot more shots. I’ve been doing that (and) you just got to keep shooting. It’s a mindset. You’ve got to have a shooter’s mindset.”
That ability to move past mistakes has served Davis well. Twice this season Davis has hit the side of the backboard with a perimeter shot. One happened in the Lehigh game (and he made his next four attempts after that) and the other on the road at Marquette. Davis’s overtime period against the Golden Eagles was compounded by a turnover that nearly earned him a seat on the bench. Saved by the lack of a stoppage whistle, Davis hit a three-pointer during the next position that put Wisconsin in the lead.
“Jordan needed that,” head coach Greg Gard said. “He’s still growing as a player, figuring out who he is as a player. For him to come back and have the fortitude to take it again, knock that one down, that was big.”
Davis started the season wanting to prove he was ready for a bigger role after averaging only 6.5 minutes over 27 games last season, a number inflated by his career-high 20 minutes in a victory at Minnesota last February.
He delivered early, averaging 10 points and 4.0 rebounds over UW’s first three games, before battling through an 11-for-37 stretch (29.7 percent). He missed all five shots he took in UW’s one-point overtime loss to No.3 Kansas and a career-high eight against Marquette. But he kept shooting.
He enters Tuesday having shot better than 40 percent in the last four games that include 44.4 percent from three-point range. He’s averaging 24.9 minutes as a starter, giving his team a spark with his ability to cut, shoot, rebound, and defend, all the while playing with the confidence of someone who knows he can be an impact player.
“Last year, I’d make one mistake and I get taken out,” Davis said. “I be so hard on myself because I know that’s like the only chance I get … I can finally show the fans my game, instead of being known as Johnny Davis’s brother.”
_________________________________________________
*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den
*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel
*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)
*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @pete_brey12, @seamus_rohrer
*Like us on Facebook
