The Wisconsin Badgers held off the Washington Huskies in the third round of the Big Ten tournament, 85-82. This game was dominated from the get-go by the Badgers, who held an 18-point lead over the Huskies in the second half. However, give Washington credit for not quitting and making this game close at the very end. The Huskies continued to climb back in the second half, cutting the deficit to one point late as the Badgers played complacent basketball.
While the Badgers won the game, there are two
things this team must clean up. First, rebounding was simply not good enough, as Washington dominated the glass by a 45-29 margin. Rohan already touched on this immediately after the game, but allowing 20 offensive rebounds is simply unacceptable. Second, the Huskies outscored the Badgers 40-24 in the paint. While a big part of that was due to Nolan Winter’s absence, that must improve in the paint before the NCAA tournament.
Looking ahead, the Badgers face the ninth-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini, a team determined to avenge their February 10th loss to Wisconsin. The Illini lead the Big Ten with 40.8 rebounds per game, making rebounding a continued area of concern for the Badgers. Emphasizing improvement on the boards will be crucial in the next 12 hours leading up to Friday afternoon’s tipoff.
Here are three standouts from Wisconsin’s narrow win over Washington:
John Blackwell
It was a record-breaking performance for Blackwell, who finished with a team-high 34 points on 14-of-24 shots from the floor, including 6-of-12 from three-point range. It was the most points in a Big Ten tournament game by a Badgers player since John Tonje’s 32 points against Michigan State last year. Blackwell now has 1,439 career points at Wisconsin and is now seeing his name climb among the all-time scoring leaders in Badgers history.
Nick Boyd
Right behind Blackwell was his partner in the backcourt, Boyd. The veteran point guard finished with 23 points and hit 5-of-6 shots from behind the three-point line. After the game, Big Ten analyst Raphael Davis announced on X what many Badger fans had already thought.
Aleksas Bieliauskas
While Blackwell and Boyd dominated against the Huskies, the Badgers did not get much else from other starters. However, Bieliauskas did have a solid, if unspectacular, game with eight points and nine rebounds, finishing just short of a double-double. His and-1 before the halftime buzzer gave Wisconsin some extra momentum.
