The Wisconsin Badgers blew out the Washington Huskies 90-73 on Saturday, securing a much-needed win after getting upset by the Oregon Ducks on the road earlier this week.
It was a strong start from the Badgers, and they never let go from there, as Wisconsin trailed for just 24 seconds in the win. With Washington being a top-75 team in KenPom, Saturday qualifies as a Quad 1 win for the Badgers, bringing them up to six on the year.
Overall, the Badgers improved to 20-9 on the year and kept their hopes
of a top-4 seed in the Big Ten alive with their 12th conference win.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s blowout win over the Huskies on Saturday.
Fast start
After looking lethargic at times on Wednesday against Oregon, the Badgers needed a good start. And boy, did they have one.
The Badgers got out to a quick 9-3 start, thanks to a trio of layups from Nick Boyd, with two coming off the fastbreak. That jumped out to a 17-4 lead thanks to two Braeden Carrington turnovers. But, unlike Wednesday when they struggled to hold onto a lead, Wisconsin maintained its advantage even when going through the offensive ups and downs on Saturday.
Heading into the last four minutes of the half, Wisconsin had a 29-14 lead and ultimately led by 15 at halftime.
On the road, Wisconsin needed to get back to its strengths: attacking the rim, setting up open threes, and playing better defense. They did that from the jump on Saturday, and it paid off (and they still can be better!).
Three-point fire
Wisconsin really struggled from three in their two prior road losses and were determined to flip the script on Saturday. They hit six in the first half, shooting 31.2 percent from three, with Braeden Carrington getting three of those.
In the second half, though, Wisconsin made sure they didn’t have any slip-ups with their lead, hitting a stellar 11 threes on 19 attempts. Carrington had six threes in the half alone on a career day, while John Blackwell, Aleksas Bieliauskas, Andrew Rohde, Austin Rapp, and Nolan Winter all had a triple as well.
When Wisconsin’s bigs are shooting the three well, they usually tend to win games. Winter, Bieliauskas, and Rapp combined to shoot 6 of 11 from deep, providing a big boost offensively. Then, when the Badgers get a spark off the bench from Carrington or Rapp, that keeps them consistent throughout the course of the game.
Overall, Wisconsin had 17 threes on Saturday, hitting 44.7 percent of their attempts in a phenomenal day offensively.
Carrington catches fire
You can’t talk about Saturday’s win without mentioning Carrington’s performance on its own. The Badgers sixth man starred with a career-high 32 points, hitting nine (yes, nine) threes in the victory.
Carrington has had a few of these games this season where he catches fire, and head coach Greg Gard does a good job of getting him shots early to get the sixth man in a rhythm. Yes, there will be some games like Iowa or Indiana where the shots just don’t fall.
But Wisconsin has needed a spark off the bench, and that’s what Carrington has been all season, hitting over 40 percent of his threes.
Saturday was an example of where Wisconsin is at its best: hitting threes, going on runs, and a fast start. Carrington contributed to all of those factors in a big way.
