John Blackwell picks up his second Big Ten honor of the season

The University of Wisconsin junior guard averaged 23 points in a pair of Badgers win last week.

Jan 13, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell (25) works around Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) during the second half at Williams Arena. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

MADISON, Wis. - It appears John Blackwell's slump is officially over.

Averaging 23 points. 5.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in a pair of wins last week, the University of Wisconsin junior guard earned his second Big Ten Player of the Week honors this season, the conference announced on Monday.

It's the third time Wisconsin has had a player honored in the league's weekly awards, as Blackwell earned the honor in early December and senior guard Nick Boyd received the recognition last week. Blackwell shared this week's honor with Maryland senior guard Diggy Coit.

Don't forget - it's still Johnuary

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— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 19, 2026

Blackwell's first honor coincided with a five-game shooting slump, failing to reach double figures in three of the games, shooting 4-for-27 from three, and missing another with an injury.

He started to show signs of getting back in rhythm in Wisconsin's win at No.2 Michigan on January 10, scoring 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting (4-for-8 3FG), but delivered in a big way last Tuesday.

Blackwell registered 27 points, including the game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer, six rebounds, and five assists in a 78-75 win at Minnesota, He followed that with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals in a 96-87 win over Rutgers, pushing UW's winning streak to four.

"When I had the off shooting, they all felt good," Blackwell said. "Keep shooting. obviously look at the film, look at things I could change if I missed short or things like that, but honestly just keep shooting. I didn't change anything about my shot, just keep shooting."

Blackwell is averaging 18.6 points on 40.8 percent shooting this season.

Wisconsin (13-5, 5-2 Big Ten) begins a stretch of four games in 10 days when the Badgers travel to State College to face Penn State (9-9, 0-7) on Thursday.

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