La Crosse’s Johnny Davis shares Big 10 Player of Week honors, despite historic performance and Badgers jumping 10 spots in rankings
A 37-point game in knocking off No. 3 Purdue, boosting the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team 10 spots to 13th in the nation and going 3-0 were just some of the things Johnny Davis did this past week.
Apparently, that wasn’t enough for the La Crosse native to earn Big 10 Player of the Week honors outright.
Davis was named co-player of the week along with 7-foot center, Kofi Cockburn of Illinois, which cracked the Top 25 at No. 25 on Monday. It’s the second time Davis has gotten the honor this season.
Over the past week, Davis, in the Purdue win, became the first player to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals in a road win over an AP Top 5 team since Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan in a 1997 win at No. 5 Maryland.
It was also the first win at Purdue since 2014 for UW (13-2).
The Badgers also beat three opponents during the week who are now a combined 32-13, while Cockburn helped the Illini (11-3) win two games against Minnesota (10-3) and Maryland. They’re a combined 18-10.
The 6-foot-5 Davis’ stats were arguably better than Cockburn’s, plus he had to play one more game.
| NAME | DAVIS | COCKBURN |
| Points | 27.3 | 26.0 |
| FGs | 30-61 (49%) | 19-31 (61%) |
| FTs | 16-22 (72%) | 14-19 (74%) |
| Rebounds | 10.0 | 14.0 |
| Assists | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Blocks | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Steals | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Minutes | 36.7 | 26.0 |
| TOs | 2.7 | 1.0 |
The highlight of the week, of course, was Davis leading the Badgers to a 74-69 win on the road against the Boilermakers (13-2).
Davis scored 27 of those 37 in the second half, going 13-for-24 from the field in the game along with 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
The guard also went toe-to-toe with the country’s top scorer, Keegan Murray, in taking down Iowa (11-4). Davis had 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists.
To cap off the week, Davis was 7 of 19 from the field, scoring 19 in a 70-69 win on the road at Maryland (8-7). He also had seven rebounds, a block, assist and steal.
Cockburn had 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting to go with 10 rebounds, four blocks and two steals in a 76-53 win at Minnesota.
The junior then scored 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting and grabbed 18 rebounds, with no other stats, in a 76-64 win at home against Maryland.
Davis did not share Player of the Week honors from the group that gives out the Naismith Trophy — the most prestigious award in college and high school basketball.
TOP PHOTO: FILE – Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis (1) goes to the basket against Purdue’s Jaden Ivey (23) and Isaiah Thompson (11) during the first half of an NCAA basketball game, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)