Braeden Carrington answered Minnesota boos with threes and postgame words

Carrington, the 2022 Minnesota Mr. Basketball winner, made his return to Williams Arena in thrilling fashion Tuesday night.

Jan 13, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) celebrates his three-point basket against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the second half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Braeden Carrington was booed every time he touched the ball Tuesday night in Minneapolis, but the former Gopher got his revenge by sinking seven three-pointers and scoring 21 points as Wisconsin beat Minnesota 78-75 in a thriller.

Carrington fueled Wisconsin's 11-point second-half comeback, which culminated with Cade Tyson hitting the game-tying three with five seconds left, only to have John Blackwell race up the court and drill a deep three at the buzzer for the win.

"Coming in, honestly, my mindset was just to only win, I don't really care. Just couldn't lose this one," Carrington said afterward. "Last night, I've probably never been so anxious to play a game. This one, for whatever reason, just had me up all night. Obviously, it went the right way, and I'm happy for it."

Did he expect to get booed by Gophers fans?

"Yeah," Carrington answered. "They did that to Jamison Battle when he came back from Ohio State. I expected it, especially coming to Wisconsin. 100 percent."

Carrington said he had some Minnesota friends in the stands, and he told them that if he was booed, he would "talk back" because he couldn't just let that happen.

Carrington, the 2022 Minnesota Mr. Basketball winner after starring at Park Center High School, played at Williams Arena for the first time since he was part of a mass exodus under head coach Ben Johnson following the 2023-24 season.

That 2023-24 team went 19-15 overall and 9-11 in the Big Ten. Had the roster stayed intact, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo thought Minnesota could've been one of the top teams in the Big Ten in 2024-25. Instead, Carrington, Pharrel Payne, Elijah Hawkins, Frank Mitchell, Josh Ola-Joseph, and Isaiah Ihnen all left via the transfer portal.

That left Johnson in a lurch, and after a tough 2024-25 season, he was fired.

Carrington wound up at Tulsa for a year before joining the Badgers this season.

"He's getting better, getting more comfortable in what we do. His competitive edge has risen and become more consistent. Another reason we really targeted him in the portal is that we felt we needed an experienced guard as a backup," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said after Tuesday's game.

"I think our intuition has been proved so far to be right that we wanted some experience there. He's been around the block, he's played in this league, he's been to the other buildings in this league. He wants to win. I think that's all he asks about. 'I want to play, but most importantly, I want to win.' You have to have guys with that mindset in your locker room, regardless of where they come from or when they come."

Minnesota will get a chance to get back at Carrington and the Badgers when they visit Madison on January 28.