Biggest takeaways from No.24 Wisconsin Badgers' 84-71 win over Iowa

MADISON, Wis. - There's no question that the impact of Nick Boyd has changed the entire complexion of Wisconsin's offense. It's brought a little swagger to the court, too.

After the energy and the tempo lacked in Tuesday's loss at Columbus, the Badgers were back to their usual tricks in an important Sunday matinee against a Quad-1 opponent with the best defense in the conference, resulting in 1.355 points per possession in an 84-71 victory over Iowa.

Boyd continued his candidacy for first-team all-conference selection, dazzling with 27 points, nine rebounds, and a career-high 10 assists. However, it was the pieces around him - Nolan Winter (18 points), Austin Rapp (14), and others - that were helpful in keeping Wisconsin (19-8, 11-5 Big Ten) alone in sixth place in the conference standings.

Here are my takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Quick Recap: Nick Boyd helped No.24 Wisconsin get its swagger back, as the senior's flirting with a triple-double helped the #Badgers pull away from Iowa in the second half in an 84-71 victory. https://t.co/qIfO1gLZlF
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 22, 2026

Rapp's growth makes him paramount to UW's success

Rapp was more a hindrance that a help just a few short months ago. Now it feels like the Wisconsin offense can't function without him.

Going from a player who relied solely on the three-point shot, and lacked the aggressiveness to generate offense from the rim and fight for rebounds, cost him his starting job three months ago. Having grown up a little bit has made him the threat the Badgers thought he would be when the landed him out of the portal from Portland.

Rapp's absence from the lineup in early January due to injury didn't seem to bother the Badgers. UW beat UCLA, won at No.2 Michigan, and won on a buzzer-beater at Minnesota, the start of the Badgers winning nine of 11 games.

But Rapp's improvement over the last month has made him a key piece to UW's offensive engine, which has struggled without him in the lineup as he's battled the flu. UW could have used his three-point shooting when it lost by one at Indiana when it went 1-for-4 from the floor in the extra session.

When the sickness returned and forced him out of Tuesday's lineup, Wisconsin struggled offensively to stretch the floor and weren't nearly as lethal from the perimeter.

In the three games he's played entering Sunday, Rapp had 19 points at home against Ohio State, 18 points in a win at No.8 Illinois, and seven points, three rebounds, two assists, and no turnovers in a victory over No.10 Michigan State.

Admitting to slowly building his stamina back, Rapp quickly made his presence known in the first half. In a two-minute span, Rapp hit two threes and started a fast break off a defensive possession that ended with a Boyd layup. His three-pointer with 4:38 remaining in front of the UW bench was a dagger to put the Badgers up 11.

"You can't be a defensive liability, and you have to be able to do more things offensively than shoot threes," head coach Greg Gard said, as UW improved to 10-0 when Rapp hits double figures. "He's added and worked at his game."

The open looks are a nod to Wisconsin's balance offensively, or as Iowa coach Ben McCollum noted that the fear of shooters on the floor forced players to not shrink on the ball handler as much as they should. Having a big who creates leverage makes the guard play exponentially better.

"There's always a right answer (for Wisconsin) when you have the backside of a ball screen," McCollum said.

News and notes from the #Badgers 84-71 victory over Iowa on Sunday https://t.co/lIdhE9AP39
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 23, 2026

Playing with two fouls no longer a gamble for Gard

There was a time when two first-half fouls guaranteed a player a one-way ticket to the bench for the remainder of the half, as Gard was unwilling to have someone pick up a third foul and handcuff them for the second half.

Like many things over the last several years, Gard's thought process on the topic is evolving.

With Jack Janicki (wrist surgery) potentially out for the rest of the season, Wisconsin sits with only one reserve guard (Braeden Carrington) who has played steady minutes all season and another (Hayden Jones) who has contributed in spots but is still only a freshman.

So, when Rohde picked up his second with 8:18 remaining and Blackwell his second with 7:33 remaining in a one-point game, it would be the first real sign of how UW's depth would be tested and the ability to utilize the small-ball lineup.

The question was answered when Rohde returned at the 5:27 mark and packed a punch.

From the time he entered until he subbed out, Rohde hit a three pointer, assisted on a Winter layup and notched two steals that kept Iowa from pushing the lead to two possessions.

"He kept us right where we needed to be," Gard said of Rohde.

Gard admitted that he was close to putting Blackwell back in the game with two fouls but felt the lineup on the floor was doing enough good things that it wasn't necessary. If Rohde picked up his third, Gard said he would adjust to go to Carrington or back to John Blackwell.

"I've continued to evolve, hopefully, in my thoughts of playing guys with two fouls," Gard said. "It's really situational based in how we are playing, what are the matchups, what type of fouls did they get, are we struggling without them, do we have to get them back on the floor. It's not a cut-and-dry thought process."

The impact of Janicki's absence has yet to be determined after having gone through three practices and 1.5 games, but the Badgers appear willing to give more minutes to Jones. After his nearly 16 minutes were his most since late December, Jones played just over seven minutes and contributed two points, two rebounds, an assist, and a block at the rim.

With a rested Blackwell playing all 20 minutes, UW didn't need to lean on Jones and others.

"Hayden did some good things in the first half," Gard said. "With Blackwell having so much rest, Hayden didn't get in there in the second half."

Wisconsin figured things out defensively

Iowa went 4-for-4 on layups in its first six possessions, 5-for-5 on first nine possessions, and 6-for-6 on its first 12. It was an offensive flow of basketball that Wisconsin allowed Ohio State to get into on Tuesday that it knew wouldn't be sustainable.

After being challenged by Gard, Wisconsin limited the Hawkeyes were just 2-for-3 on the final 19 possessions, including no layups in the final 4:51 and only four points in the paint, one of which was a off balanced runner by Iowa leading scorer Bennett Stirtz (23 points) on what became a three-point play.

That defense carried over into the second half when the Badgers held Iowa to .909 points per possession and kept Iowa off the free throw line.

"Early on in the game they were beating us to some 50-50 balls, beating us up on the low block," Winter said. "Took some timeouts, coach got on us a little bit, and that's what we needed. Things changed, especially going into that second half. We brought a lot more defensive intensity and physicality that we needed. We need to continue to bring (that) in the first half of games going forward."