The Wisconsin Badgers began their season with a 96-64 win over Campbell. While the score looks like another opening-season blowout that other ranked teams accomplished on Monday night, Campbell put some scares into the Badgers. The Fighting Camels, in former Florida Gators assistant John Andrzejek’s debut as head coach, cut Wisconsin’s lead to five on three separate occasions in the second half.
However, with Wisconsin leading 67-62, a 15-0 Badgers run that ballooned to a 29-2 run to finish the game
propelled the Badgers to seize complete control of the game and avoid a major upset.
There was plenty of praise to go around for Wisconsin, such as Andrew Rohde and Jack Janicki providing great defense, combining for seven steals. Rohde had three, and Janicki, off the bench, had four. Austin Rapp finished with 13 points and was a solid passer throughout the game.
Here are three Badgers standouts from Wisconsin’s win over Campbell:
All-Big Ten time
Before the start of the season, Blackwell was the only Badger to be named to the preseason All-Big Ten list. With John Tonje gone, Blackwell was now the leader of this Badger basketball team. His opening night performance showcased why he is capable of being a first-team All-Big Ten player in 2025-26.
Blackwell finished the game with a team-high 31 points, one point shy of his career-high, and was 6-of-11 from behind the three-point line. It was Blackwell who kick-started the Badgers’ big second-half run with a layup just when Campbell cut the lead to five with under nine minutes remaining.
Quite a debut from the Badgers’ star.
Transfer makes waves
In his first game with the Wisconsin Badgers, Boyd finished with 21 points, four assists, and three rebounds. The San Diego State transfer got the Badgers their first four points of the season with nice, smooth finishes at the rim, showcasing the quickness that Badgers’ fans are excited to see.
What I liked about Boyd’s debut was that he was in attack mode throughout most of the game. I would like to see him become a factor in the Badgers’ three-point shooting (0-for-2 tonight), but overall, it was a splendid debut.
Double-double machine?
Perhaps the double-double Winter put against UW-Platteville in an exhibition game was a sign of things to come for the rising junior? Winter posted another double-double, the first one that counts in the record books this year, with 17 points on 8-of-12 shots from the field and a team-high 12 rebounds. He did a nice job of getting into position, especially down low, and finishing at the rim.
