The Wisconsin Badgers have had quite an eventful last two days here at the Big Ten Tournament. On Thursday, they beat the Washington Huskies 85-82 in a game that went down to the final minute, despite the Badgers holding an 18-point lead in the second half. Then, on Friday, they beat the Illinois Fighting Illini 91-88 in overtime, coming back from multiple double-digit leads to get another major win on their resume.
On Thursday, it was John Blackwell who came through for the Badgers in a big way,
scoring 34 points while hauling down 10 rebounds in his highest scoring output of the year. Blackwell’s 34 points set a program record for the most points by a Badger in the Big Ten Tournament, topping John Tonje’s 32 points against the Michigan State Spartans last year.
Well, that record lasted exactly one day because Nick Boyd put up 38 points for the Badgers on Friday in the overtime thriller, dominating in the second half as Wisconsin overcame a 15-point second-half deficit. Blackwell was no slouch either, putting up 31 of his own in the best game that the duo has played together as Badgers.
Boyd’s 38 points are the second-most by any player ever at the Big Ten Tournament, trailing only Terrence Shannon Jr., who had 40 points against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2024.
Blackwell’s 34 points on Thursday and Boyd’s 38 on Friday are both career-highs for their respective selves, and those performances propelled Wisconsin into the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, where they’ll face the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday for a chance to make the Big Ten Championship Game for the third straight year.
It’s a pretty good time for Wisconsin’s two stars to be having their best performances of the year.
