The Badgers received some tough news upon their return from the Ohio State road trip. After some testing, guard Jack Janicki will likely miss the remainder of the season with a broken wrist.
It will be a tough loss on the defensive side of the ball for Wisconsin, who will now be without one of their best defenders. Freshman Hayden Jones out of New Zealand will likely be the one to slide up into Janicki's role, although he admits it will be a challenge.
“It’s some tough shoes to fill,” Jones told Badger Blitz. “His defense has a very good impact on the team. I just have to be able to apply the same pressure and get the same stops that he does.”
Wisconsin will turn to freshman Hayden Jones to fill an important role
Jones is averaging just 1.9 points per game in a little over seven minutes, but has a nice 63 percent field goal percentage. He's played sparingly in conference play, but saw 16 minutes against Ohio State when Janicki went down. Still, his coach has confidence that he can step his game up as Wisconsin tries to close out their season with some momentum.
“I thought Hayden, for somebody that hasn’t had consistent minutes, he did a lot of good things, but it’s exactly what I’ve been seeing in practice,” said head coach Greg Gard. “I’ve been impressed with him. It’s just a matter of him continuing to grow and get experience…Hayden, I thought, did a good job in the second half the other night. Now, he’ll have an opportunity for more.”
Jones will need to make the most of that opportunity, as the Badgers will need a sticky wing defender to replace Janicki's production. While, defense isn't necessarily Jones' strength--he posted just a-0.5 in defensive box plus/minus against Ohio State--the Badgers don't have many other options. Austin Rapp's role could expand, as could freshman Zach Kinziger's, but for now it appears that Jones will get his chance to shine.