Signature Performances: Jonathan Davis & Keegan Murray
The two Big Ten draft prospects had monster games to cement themselves as likely lottery talents
There weren’t many games of scouting relevance on Monday, January 3rd. Some cancellations due to COVID and a generally light schedule coming out of the New Year lead to all eyes shifting onto two games with major NBA Draft implications. Two top-25 teams in the Big Ten did battle as Wisconsin traveled to #3-ranked Purdue. The matchup featured two lottery prospects in the backcourt in Jaden Ivey and Jonathan Davis.
An hour after tip in West Lafayette, Keegan Murray got to lead Iowa against the Maryland Terrapins. Another great game, Murray attempted to put to rest claims that his early-season performance was fueled solely by crushing low-major competition.
Both Murray and Davis put forth some of the signature performances of this scouting cycle to lead their teams to victory. We’ll give a quick breakdown of both and discuss why the night is worthy of making strong reactions to.
Jonathan Davis vs. Purdue
37 points (13-24 FG, 9-12 FT), 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
It’s rare we get a head-to-head matchup between top-ten picks who actually guard each other. Davis and Ivey didn’t go toe-to-toe very much when Davis was on offense, but man was it clear the Wisconsin product got the better of his former Team USA teammate. While Purdue head coach Matt Painter failed to unleash Ivey and stuck to his team-centric offense, Wisconsin got the victory by letting Davis go supernova and carry his team.
What we saw was a combination of great scoring inside and out, playing in attack mode all evening, and demonstrating tremendous feel for the game, doing exactly what his team needed him to do at the right times.
The 37-point performance is indicative of just how far Davis has come from a confidence standpoint. Davis played a solid role as a freshman on a senior-laden Badger team, so seeing his breakout in year two was a bit difficult to predict. Nonetheless, he validated the climb up draft boards with this breakout evening.
The jump shot is versatile and smooth. He gets it off in the mid-range fairly quickly, still his favorite location to score from. He’s efficient off-ball and from a catch-and-shoot standpoint, but in a draft class weak on scoring talent in the backcourt, the scoring prowess with the ball in his hands is incredibly attractive. We still have some doubts about his separation in the half-court, which leads to the great deal of step-backs and counter moves in the mid-range, but when he makes those shots as consistently as he does, it shouldn’t harm his draft position too much.
Another way Davis makes up for those quickness concerns: drawing contact. Johnny got to the line twelve times against the Boilermakers, his fifth time in the last six games attempting seven or more from the line. More importantly, Davis knew when to put his head down and attack. At the beginning of the second half, Purdue went on a bit of a run to extend their lead to seven. Davis put the offense on his back, slowed down the game to prevent Purdue from gaining momentum at home and kept his team in it.
The same thing goes for the final two minutes. Davis drilled a huge catch-and-shoot three-pointer from a poor kickout pass, then settled the Wisconsin offense to get a pull-up jumper at the end of the clock. It felt like a superstar moment for Davis, commanding the pressure in the final seconds to get to a signature long two.
Far from a flawless prospect, Davis has a lot going for him. Scoring in the mid-post, size, shooting, physical toughness and now a victory over a top-three team in the nation. He’s cementing himself as a top-ten pick with each game that goes by.
Keegan Murray vs. Maryland
35 points (14-21 FG, 5-6 3FG), 8 rebounds, 3 blocks