The Wisconsin Badgers upped their Big Ten Conference record to 5-2 with a 96-87 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The Badgers were on fire in the first half, scoring 51 points on 18-of-34 shots from the floor, including converting 8-of-15 three-point shots.
As much fun as the first half was for Wisconsin, the second half left much to be desired. The Scarlet Knights made this game interesting by cutting a 26-point lead to single digits with almost five minutes left. However, Rutgers went into a cold
stretch by missing 10 of its last 13 shots late and never threatened the Badgers’ lead.
Overall, this was a solid but expected win against a struggling opponent, with almost everyone making contributions. I wish the Badgers hadn’t taken their foot off the gas pedal in the second half, but I am not going to complain too much about winning a fourth straight Big Ten game.
Here are three Badger standouts from Wisconsin’s win over Rutgers.
Nick Boyd
Boyd was the player of the game for Wisconsin on Saturday, scoring 32 points on 8-of-16 shots from the floor and making 14 of 15 free throws. In addition, Boyd had a career-high nine assists on the day. It was Boyd’s highest scoring output since November 27th against Providence, where he had a 36-point game. When Rutgers clawed back into the game late in the second half, it was Boyd who swung momentum back to Wisconsin by converting a three-point play to extend the lead to double digits.
John Blackwell
It was another solid game for Blackwell, who was the second-leading scorer for Wisconsin with 19 points against Rutgers. We are starting to see Blackwell and Boyd develop better chemistry in recent games, which is great for the Badgers and bad for the Big Ten. After the game, Blackwell (and Boyd) received a shoutout by Big Ten Network analyst Rapheal Davis on X.
Nolan Winter
Winter continues his ascension into an All-Big Ten forward with an 18-point outing on Saturday, including a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor. We would like to see Winter gather more rebounds, as he finished with only five on the day. However, it was still a good game for the junior forward.
Honorable Mention: Harun Zrno
One of the players who spearheaded Rutgers’ comeback attempt was Zrno. The freshman guard finished with a team-high 21 points, including 12 points in the second half on four three-pointers. Zrno’s scoring delivered some anxious moments on Saturday inside the Kohl Center.
