Jason Bohannon: The Key To Wisconsin Basketball Success

At 6'2" he doesn't really stand out in a crowd, and his 198 pounds looks to be even less on his thin frame, but Wisconsin Badger guard Jason Bohannon play with something better than size, he has heart.

I know, this is simply a cliche we use for someone who does not meet our strict pysical standards for athletic success, but in Bohannon's case, it rings true.

The Senior guard's most recent performance against Indiana put an exclamation point on a string of breakout games by the Senior guard. "JBo" scored 30 points and tied a school record with seven three pointers in a game where he filled the stat sheet with three rebounds,three assists, one steal and one block.

After the game, Indiana head coach Tom Crean sang Bohannon's praises: "He is one of the absolute best shooters that I've seen and always gets in the flow of what they are trying to do."

And as can be demonstrated from a quick glance at the stats, Bohannon has improved thus far this season in every statistical category over his performance a year ago.

Jason averages 12 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per contest while averaging .469 from the floor and .873 from the charity stripe.

But the number that really stand out is his three point shooting percentage. While Bohannon has been maligned by the media and Badger fans alike at times this year for not hitting his three point attempts, he has improved his average over any of his previous three seasons.

So far this year, Bohannon is averaging .403 from behind the arc, and in his last four games has hit 17 of 34 attempts from long distance.

And as the Bohannon goes, so go the Badgers. In five of the six games the Badgers have lost this year, Bohannon has scored ten or fewer points.

He has reached double figures 17 times this season, and the Badgers have won 14 of those contests.

Badger's head coach Bo Ryan has nothing but praise for his senior guard:"Defensively there's no question that he's improved. We always look for places to hide him and he knows it. When there are certain matchups, we say 'okay, J. Bo you got him.'

"He guards shooters, he guards guys now that can put the ball on the floor.  He was nicked up there for a couple seasons that we didn't tell the media. He had surgery and we didn't milk you guys [the media] for sympathy. He came back from those and now, defensively, he's pretty good.

"He's stayed true to the rehabilitation and to handling the injuries that he did have. He found the bottom of the net today and his teammates found him open. J. Bo moves away from the ball as well as anybody in the league. There's no question. He moves pretty well."

This former Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and State of Iowa Mr. Basketball has flourished under Ryan, and with his continued success, the Badgers can look for a deep run in March.

Quotes courtesy of UWBadgers.com