MADISON, Wis. -- Penn State coach Patrick Chambers waxed poetic this week about Wisconsin guard Traevon Jackson, calling him "a Nittany Lion killer over his career" and suggesting his leadership in the Big Ten simply was unmatched by anybody. Chambers certainly would know, having watched Jackson bury a buzzer-beating game winner against his team two years ago from 25 feet away at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Given the respect level Chambers has for Jackson, his comments about Jackson's backup, Bronson Koenig, were especially telling. When No. 5 Wisconsin (23-2, 11-1) plays at Penn State (15-11, 3-10) at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Koenig will be the Badgers' starting point guard as he continues to fill in for Jackson, who broke his right foot against Rutgers on Jan. 11.
"Just incredible," Chambers said. "I think the world of Traevon. But you bring in your backup point guard, and man, they don't even miss a beat. They're playing at maybe even a higher level than they were."
Many have echoed that same sentiment in recent weeks. Since taking over as Jackson's replacement, Koenig has scored in double figures in seven of eight games. And in nine starts this season -- one was to replace Frank Kaminsky, who had concussion-like symptoms for the Rutgers game -- Koenig is averaging 12.9 points, 2.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds.
Jackson started the team's first 17 games at point guard and averaged 9.4 points, 2.9 assists and 1.7 rebounds. When he sustained his injury in the middle of Wisconsin's surprising loss at Rutgers, Wisconsin was 15-1. Since Koenig filled Jackson's spot, the Badgers are 8-0 in Big Ten play.
All of this raises the question: What does Wisconsin do when Jackson returns from injury? Where do Koenig's minutes go? And how much should Jackson, who started 84 consecutive games, really play?
"It's hard to say," Wisconsin assistant coach Lamont Paris said. "The guy's won a lot of games for us. He's started a lot of games for us. To think that the guy wouldn't be ready to start again, I don't know that I would ever say that. He's a competitor. He's a winner. He's won a lot of games for us. We'll see what happens when that comes."
Badgers coach Bo Ryan, never one to look past the next game and the next practice, hasn't spent much time publicly worrying about Wisconsin's plight. Few teams have the luxury to bring a player of Koenig's caliber off the bench, and his confidence has skyrocketed since becoming a temporary starter.
In nine starts, Koenig is hitting 50 percent of his field-goal attempts (38 of 76) and 53.4 percent of his 3-pointers (23 of 43). In Koenig's first 16 games as a reserve, he connected on 39.1 percent of his field goals (27 of 69) and 30 percent of his 3s (12 of 40).
"It's obviously given me a lot more confidence and just experience how to run the team and kind of take it into my own hands," Koenig said. "When Trae comes back, I know it's just going to make us that much more deep. Playing with him, he's a really good player getting into the lane, driving and kicking, which I've been getting a lot of my 3s on. I can do the same thing for him."
Koenig also has improved significantly in finding ways to earn free-throw trips. In his first 16 games, he made a total of 5 of 6 free throws. Since, he has made 17 of 20 from the charity stripe. Some of Koenig's increased statistics comes from playing more minutes. As Jackson's backup, he averaged 19.8 minutes per game. Over Koenig's nine starts, he is averaging 34.7 minutes per game.
Koenig and Jackson are very different players. Jackson is more apt to bully his way into the lane and draw free-throw attempts. He also is the player Wisconsin wants with the ball in his hands in late-game situations -- just ask Chambers, who witnessed one of Jackson's four game-tying or game-winning career jumpers. But Koenig has a better assists-to-turnovers ratio (54 assists on 14 turnovers compared to Jackson's 49 assists on 28 turnovers) and has proven less likely to make mistakes in other key moments.
Still, no matter what Koenig does, his run as the team's starting point guard this season likely is nearing a close -- even if nobody really wants to talk about it yet. No timetable has been announced for Jackson's return, but he could come back in early March, just in time for Wisconsin's Big Ten tournament and subsequent NCAA tournament appearance.
"Well, let's do it like they do on TV here where they have these series," Ryan said last week. "Let's just see how it plays out. Everybody speculate. Everybody do their thing. We're not agonizing here about it."
Koenig, for his part, said he expected to once again come off the bench when Jackson returns -- a role he has no problem understanding and accepting.
"It doesn't really matter because it's just going to make our team that much more deep and just ultimately help our depth," Koenig said.
The relationship between Jackson and Koenig has continued to thrive despite Jackson being out. Koenig noted Jackson pulled him aside at halftime of Wisconsin's 68-49 victory against Illinois on Sunday and told him to be more aggressive. Koenig scored two points on 1 of 3 first-half shooting. He scored 13 more points on 5 of 7 second-half shooting.
That tight bond between the two has helped to avoid any tension because both are most concerned with winning. And Ryan said whatever decisions are made about starters and minutes won't divide the team.
"Our guys, it's really a close group," he said. "It's amazing how they've handled everything to this point and how they've helped Trae through this process. It's just kind of neat."
Only time will tell how long Jackson, a senior, will require to fully recover and how many minutes his body feels he's able to play as his career winds down. He has no doubt earned the right to be the team's starter upon his return. Until then, Wisconsin's program remains in good hands. And there will be no controversy on a team with two highly capable point guards.
"It's definitely something to be proud of," Koenig said. "But I knew that we weren't going to have a drop-off or anything like that or that we were going to lose games with me in there. Me and Trae are different players, so obviously we're going to effect the game differently."
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