Biggest takeaways from Wisconsin Badgers' 78-45 win over the Maryland Terrapins

MADISON, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin had delivered its biggest Big Ten win of the season, on senior day no less, where all four of UW's veterans contributed, but it was hard to be completely joyous after seeing a potentially season-altering injury in the final minutes.

There were a lot of encouraging performances on the Kohl Center on Wednesday night, and momentum to build on, but the fact that the aftermath of Wisconsin's 78-45 victory over Maryland was about junior center Nolan Winter's inability to put any weight on his injured right ankle as anything else.

"It's next man up," said junior John Blackwell. "We've had guys out ... I think we've had a next-man-up mentality and just picking our brothers up ... Nolan is a fighter. If Nolan has the go to play, he's playing. Whether it's one leg or two legs, he's playing."

The injury occurred with 7:01 remaining when Winter flew it to score a put-back layup. The athletic play that created one of the night's loudest ovations suddenly went quiet with the junior writhing on the court in pain, unable to get up as he held his ankle.

The energy in the building didn't return until the last minute, when senior walk-on Isaac Gard hit a three-pointer, a brief reprieve from the reality that the makeup of the Badgers' roster could drastically alter one week before the conference tournament.

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said early indications were that "hopefully we avoided the worst," but Winter will undergo further testing and evaluations on Thursday.

The win allowed Wisconsin (21-9, 13-6 Big Ten) to stretch out its rotation near the midway point of the second, giving seldom-used reserves important minutes with the conference tournament on the horizon, one where the Badgers hope to win three games in three days for the third straight season.
UW might need those guys now more than ever. My takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Quick Recap: Braeden Carrington continues his late-season surge offensively, scoring a game-high 18 points to lead Wisconsin to a 78-45 victory over Maryland.

Unfortunately, the #Badgers might be without Nolan Winter after a serious-looking ankle injuryhttps://t.co/aPWZkXZA1I
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) March 5, 2026

Seniors did their jobs

One of the main goals Gard had when he and his staff started sifting through the transfer portal in the spring was to bring in experienced veterans who could set the tone on the floor and in the locker room.

The three he found - guards Nick Boyd, Braeden Carrington, and Andrew Rohde - have delivered that throughout various points of the season, including all three of them in their home finale.

Carrington was the big piece who brought the scoring, something he's rarely done throughout his collegiate career but has found on the home stretch. He scored a game-high 18 points, including 13 in the first half when the Badgers' offense needed a jolt after starting 2-for-12 from the floor.

He went 4-for-8 from three-point range and is now shooting a team-best 43 percent from beyond the perimeter.

The offense surge coincides with the injury to redshirt sophomore Jack Janicki, who is unlikely to be back this season after breaking his wrist at Ohio State. Including that game when Janicki went down with an injury, Carrington - a 6.6 ppg player over his career - is averaging 15.6 points and shooting 49 percent from the field over the last five games. And that includes a scoreless game at Oregon.

"It came off my hands and felt good the last couple of games," Carrington said. "I'm going to keep shooting."

Maryland coach Buzz Williams missed out on competing against Nick Boyd two years ago when Williams was coaching Texas A&M, and Boyd was dealing with a left foot injury at Florida Atlantic. He didn't miss him on Wednesday.

Boyd didn't reach the 20-point mark for the 19th time this season, but he reached double figures for the 30th straight game (13 points, four rebounds, and three assists).

"He's the head of their snake," Williams said of Boyd. "His ability to get fouled with some a high basket assist rate. He's good at the rim ... He plays with a very aggressive mentality, yet he also has a really high IQ. He makes the game easier for his teammates."

Rohde had three points on 1-for-4 shooting (all threes), dropping his 3-point shooting percentage down to 31.6 percent, but he continues to find other ways to contribute. He had four rebounds, six assists, two steals, and no turnovers. UW is 4-0 when Rohde has at least five assists.

And, of course, there's Isaac Gard, a fourth-year walk-on who was likely the main reason Greg called it "an emotional day" after watching his son grow up in the Kohl Center (he told a story of Isaac crying in his car seat watching his dad coach).

Checking in with 2:11 remaining, Isaac was evidently too amped on his first three-point attempt and missed it long. Wanting to get him another shot, sophomore Jack Robison called a play for Isaac and directed traffic to make sure everyone knew the correct assignments.

Getting a reload, Isaac was able to settle himself more and got enough space from freshman Aleks Alston to bury his third three of the season in front of the UW bench.

His dad subbed him out 14 seconds later and promptly wrapped him in a big bear hug.

"You couldn't have scripted the end there with him making the three," Greg Gard said.

Grew up in this gym.
Made memories in this gym. pic.twitter.com/rb18rHbYzh
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) March 5, 2026

Blackwell regains his shooting form

Blackwell admitted to shedding tears at the home final a year ago, a disappointing 86-75 loss to a Penn State team that wasn't good enough to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament. UW recovered to advance to the conference tournament finals, but the inability of the Badgers to send seniors Steven Crowl, Carter Gilmore, Markus Ilver, Max Klesmit, Kamari McGee, and John Tonje out with a win.

That could be partly the reason Blackwell came out with an aggressive mindset. He was the only player who found an offensive rhythm early, scoring four early points in the paint on the first three possessions.

That set him up to later hit UW's first three on its 10th attempt and a tough pull-up baseline jumper over Maryland freshman guard Andre Mills.

He ended up scoring 14 points and went 6-for-9 from the floor on Wednesday, his best shooting percentage of the season, a stark change from the final three games of February when he was 11-for-35 from the floor and 8-for-24 from the perimeter.

"I was frustrated with myself with the foul trouble I was in ... and getting in my head just a little bit," Blackwell said. "These guys and my coaches help me work through it."

In much the same way Greg Gard challenged him with a defensive matchup Saturday against Washington Zoom Diallo, Blackwell was in charge of slowing down Mills. The final numbers show that Blackwell responded. Despite missing a day of practice earlier in the week due to illness, Blackwell still chased around Nills and held him to 14 points on 12 shot attempts.

"That challenge in itself, that's impacting winning when you get that type of assignment, and you have to control the other team's lead ball handler," Greg Gard said. "I thought he was right, right out of the gate. I could tell how he attacked off the dribble. He was aggressive. He was quick. He had some pop to him.

Buzz about Wisconsin

Wisconsin has seemed to follow Williams around through his 19 years of coaching. After dodging the Badgers in his first coaching stint at New Orleans, Williams faced Wisconsin annually as the head coach of Marquette (2008-14) and later saw variations of them at Virginia Tech (2017) and Texas A&M (2021).

The Badgers team he saw on Wednesday was slightly different from the one he saw on his last visit to Wisconsin 12 years ago. They were still an efficient offense, stingy on defense, and took care of the ball, but these Badgers really like to move, and they like to screen.

The 2013-14 Badgers ranked 286th in adjusted tempo on their run to the Final Four using components of Bo Ryan's swing offense. This group entered the day at No.73 and likes to free up their shooters with a plethora of ball screens, something Gard started to incorporate into the offense after the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

"There is no Coach Ryan swing in (the offense)," said Williams, who is 3-6 against the Badgers. "It was kind of melded together when we played in (2021), even a little bit when we played (in 2017), but what hasn't changed is defensively they are going to stay in front. If you set a ball screen, two guys are going to handle the ball screen, not all five guys. It's hard to get them in rotation. They're not going to leave the shooters on ball-side penetration, even on weak-side penetration, and then their presence at the rim."