John Blackwell Pours in 31 Points as Wisconsin Dominates Opener
The Wisconsin Badgers’ 96-64 opening-night victory over Campbell was all offense, and a continuation of last season’s historic scoring display. In a game where the Badgers shot 50.7% from the field and 39.3% from three, the buckets were plentiful as they moved to 1-0 on the season.
By far, the biggest bright spot of the game was John Blackwell. Heading into the season, the junior guard was projected to have a lot of responsibilities as an upperclassman. Against the Fighting Camels, he lived up to expectations and then some.
Blackwell Dominates With 31 Points
Blackwell took a bit before getting going. The 6-foot-4 wing would put up 17 points in the first half after Nick Boyd would lead the team in scoring through the first 10 minutes. Blackwell started with four points in the paint (one free throw) before extending his range and knocking down a three-pointer shortly after.
Balance was the biggest part of Blackwell’s 31-point performance. He shot 10-for-19 from the field, six of those makes being threes. He’d finish 6-for-11 from three.
After the game, Blackwell talked about his confidence level building with each make. His continuous work in the offseason and develop over his time in Madison has led to the junior becoming the start of this offense.
Blackwell Spoke On His Development As A Shooter
“[Being] locked in more on my shot,” Blackwell said. “I think from freshman year to sophomore year, I got more threes up. So, just, from my freshman year, being more locked in on every single shot, and taking good ones. Just ten toes down, getting those up rather than those stepbacks.”
Boyd would follow Blackwell with 21 points of his own on 7-for-15 shooting, but the balance of having a slash-first point guard compared to a sharpshooter was a big factor in Blackwell getting the shots he wanted. While Boyd attacked the basket, Blackwell didn’t need many dribbles to score.
The junior was one point shy of a career high, but reached 30 points for the third time in his career. He previously reached the mark against Iowa on Jan. 3, 2025 (32), as well as against UTRGV (30) on Nov. 18, 2024. This was the 45th time in his career that he scored in double figures.
Blackwell and the Badgers will try to keep the scoring momentum going into their second game against Northern Illinois on Friday.
