Former UConn star Andre Jackson Jr. hopes to key Milwaukee Bucks’ turnaround: ‘You have to lose to win’

NEW YORK — Andre Jackson Jr. sat alone in the visiting locker room at Madison Square Garden Friday night in the aftermath of yet another loss by his Milwaukee Bucks — this one to the Knicks.
The Bucks would go on to lose again on Sunday at home to the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, dropping their record to 2-8.
Still, Jackson, a 6-foot-6 wing who played three years for Dan Hurley at UConn, believes he can help key a turnaround for the Bucks and salvage a season that began with NBA championship hopes. Jackson went through similar tough times at UConn, and says that served as a road map of sorts for his current team.
“It’s frustrating but you have to lose to win, you know?” Jackson, 22, told NJ Advance Media after the Knicks’ loss. “My first two years at UConn, if you just judged my career off that, you would have seen me as a completely different person and player, but when you go through those losses, you learn how to win. You learn the things that’s going to make you lose, and you learn the things that make you win.”
He added: “I’ve been through a lot of highs and lows in my basketball career, it’s been a long journey and all throughout my life I’ve always got through it, so I’m confident that we’ll get through this.”
During his first two years at UConn, the Huskies were bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
As a freshman in the 2021-22 season, Jackson missed seven games due to a broken left wrist and averaged just 2.7 points.
A year later, he started all but one of the Huskies’ games as a sophomore and averaged 6.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Hurley named him Jackson a team captain heading into his junior season and he missed the first three games of the season after fracturing the pinky finger on his right hand during preseason practices. He went on to be a key player on the first of back-to-back national championship teams, averaging 6.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
The Bucks took him 36th in the 2023 NBA Draft. He started eight games — and played in 57 — as a rookie, averaging 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds.
Jackson wasn’t even a part of coach Doc Rivers’ rotation for the first three games of this season, but now with his team struggling, the coach has inserted Jackson into the starting lineup the last three games to add some speed and athleticism to a team that has been getting embarrassed on some nights.
He is averaging 3.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists on the season.
“Yeah, I just think he brings athleticism,” Rivers said ahead of the Knicks’ game in response to a question from NJ Advance Media. “He brings speed. You know, our team needs speed, and it stands out. I think he probably stands out more on our team than any team. But he plays with the right intent on offense. He’s not out there trying to score, but he will just through what he does, we are starving for a stopper, you know, and I’m not going to call him that yet, because he’s so young, and the officials have to get used to him being aggressive and all that stuff.”
Rivers said he was looking forward to seeing Jackson defend Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, but Brunson went on to post 15 points, 9 assists and 0 turns in the 116-94 victory.
“He’ll learn, he’ll learn,” Rivers said of Jackson. “I mean, I could tell him all day, hey, tonight, ‘You know what Brunson is gonna do. He’s gonna pump fake 15 times. He has great footwork,’ but you still gotta live it. You gotta go through it. You know, that’s why you put them out there.”
Jackson did finish with 3 points, 1 assist and an impressive block at the rim of Mikal Bridges.
“I love the challenge, I love to see where I can stack up against them and I just love the game,” Jackson said. “I just love the competition, I think that’s what I am at heart, is a competitor.”
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Jackson has always been known as a Swiss Army-knife type of player who can do multiple things on the court, and he believes his speed and athleticism can play a big role if the Bucks are to become a factor in the East.
“For sure, I believe that we’re definitely going to turn things around,” Jackson said. “I believe that playing faster and getting the ball to multiple sides, just getting multiple actions going, will definitely help us. And then getting stops, getting defensive rebounds so we can push in transition, and we’re not stuck in the halfcourt all night.
“With Giannis [Antetokounmpo], he flourishes in transition and he’s one of the best players in the league, if not the best, so definitely trying to get stops and I think that’s why [Rivers] is putting me out there, to help us get stops so we can get our guys good looks in transition and just speed up our pace of play.”
The Bucks have reportedly been making calls around the league to augment their roster but are restricted by being in the second apron, and thus any talk of trading Giannis seems unrealistic.
For now, the Bucks must look internally, and Jackson is one of those options. Rivers knows Jackson has a winning pedigree from his time at UConn.
“Yeah, I think he has a winning mentality,” Rivers said. “One national title, you know, and he was a big part of that….You know he’s just a good kid, and you know he does have a DNA that says he thinks more about winning and team than he does about anything else.
“And if that’s from UConn, then thank you UConn. If that’s from his parents, then thank you, parents. You know, when it comes to his evolution, that ability to play and not get into too much foul trouble is obviously going to well, that’s going to need to be gonna be the big question.”
Jackson remains in touch with Hurley and UConn assistants Kimani Young and Luke Murray. The Huskies have sent seven players to the NBA in the last two seasons and have a growing fraternity of young players in the league.
“For sure, [the coaches] reach out to me whenever they can,” Jackson said. “[They tell me] just to continue to be myself and don’t get lost. I think the biggest thing that [Hurley] says is keep doing the things that got you here.”
While the Bucks are looking to turns things around and be competitive in the Eastern Conference, Jackson’s old team is bidding for a historic three-peat in college hoops.
“Yeah, I went back and saw those guys,” Jackson said of the Huskies. “They’re doing great, they got a lot of young talent and veterans that have won things, but my biggest focus is here with the Milwaukee Bucks.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.