The 6-foot-4 sophomore went from averaging 8.1 points against the Big Ten last season to ranking sixth in the league with an 19.2 points per game.

"For him to only be a sophomore right now is unbelievable," Wisconsin assistant coach Sharif Chambliss said. "He's been a joy to coach."

The Big Ten has reached the halfway point of its season. Time to assess how each of the league’s 18 schools have done so far.

John Blackwell scored 28 points and No. 24 Wisconsin ... USC: Desmond Claude, who was leading the Big Ten with a 22 points-per-game average in conference games, was held to nine points. USC got within 55-52 midway through the second half before Wisconsin ...

The game was his fourth 20-point game of the season against the Big Ten. “I think John Blackwell is as good as any guard we’ve played against and I knew it watching it on film,” UCLA coach ...

Wisconsin basketball (15-3, 5-2 Big Ten) stretched its win streak to seven games with an 84-69 victory against the USC Trojans (11-7, 3-4 Big Ten) on Saturday.

Tonje, a sixth-year shooting guard who spent his first four seasons at Colorado State and last winter at Missouri, racked up game highs in both points (23) and 3-pointers (five) and grabbed six rebounds for Wisconsin. But the Terps (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) emerged with a 76-68 victory thanks to double-digit production from all five of their starters.

Wisconsin Badgers (16-5, 6-4 Big Ten) at Northwestern Wildcats (12-9, 3-7 Big Ten) Evanston, Illinois; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Northwestern hosts No. Wisconsin after Jalen Leach scored 23 points in Northwestern's 79-72 loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Wisconsin is still looking for another signature win after running into a resilient Terrapins squad on the road Wednesday night. Here's what stood out in the loss.

Prominent ESPN host Scott Van Pelt had a front-row seat to Maryland basketball's 76-68 win over Wisconsin on Wednesday. That is stated literally -- Van Pelt sat courtside as the Terrapins rode a 44-37 second half to the eight-point win.

So at 3:57, he picked up an offensive foul, which was his second of the half. That was the last time he saw the court in the first frame. Even worse, Wisconsin sophomore guard John Blackwell (who has averaged 20.3 points per game over the previous seven games) had been sitting with two fouls since 9:06, scoreless.

According to a report by the FAA, one air traffic controller was working two positions at the time of the crash.