Pretty, pretty, pretty good week for Greg Gard’s crew.
After a rousing run through the Maui Invitational field last week on their way to the championship, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team received their first AP ranking of the season. The Badgers (5-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) entered the poll at No. 23 on Monday after having entered Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology field at the beginning of the weekend.
. Wisconsin Badgers pic.twitter.com/7QEfo4JpSb
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) November 29, 2021
The Big Ten has three other teams ranked in the AP Poll this week: No. 2 Purdue, No. 22 Michigan State and No. 24 Michigan. Illinois, Ohio State, Indiana and Iowa, along with Saturday’s opponent Marquette, are all receiving votes in the poll. There is a new No. 1 team this week as well, with Duke moving into the top slot after beating previous No. 1, and now No. 3, Gonzaga over the weekend.
In more exciting men’s hoops news, Johnny Davis was named Big Ten Player of the Week for his NBA-level performance in Las Vegas at the Maui Invitational. Davis won MVP of the event and averaged 23.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.3 apg and 2.3 spg during his three game run. He shot 47.1% from the field, 46% from three and didn’t miss a single free throw (15-for-15). A truly remarkable showing.
Here’s Johnny! @JonathanCDavis1 turned heads all week while the @BadgerMBB team played in the Maui Jim Invitational – recording a career high 30 points vs. Houston and another 20 points vs. Saint Mary’s.
He is the 1 ! pic.twitter.com/igR8nhKpsB
— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) November 29, 2021
Davis and company have another big week ahead of them. On Wednesday night, they travel to Atlanta to play Georiga Tech in the B1G/ACC Challenge and then return home for a Saturday morning showdown with in-state rival Marquette.