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Biggest takeaways from Wisconsin Badgers' 80-60 win over Milwaukee

Wisconsin show improvement on the defensive end, although the Badgers will soon have tougher offenses to stop
Benjamin Worgull|
Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd goes in for a layup, one of his team-high 16 points in the Badgers' 80-60 win over Milwaukee.
Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd goes in for a layup, one of his team-high 16 points in the Badgers' 80-60 win over Milwaukee. | UW Athletics

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Wisconsin Badgers

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin really wanted to make its game with Milwaukee work.

Once the Badgers found out the Big Ten would not be playing conference games between Christmas and New Years, Wisconsin gave the Panthers three dates - Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday - that would fit into its nonconference schedule.

With the Panthers unable to move a Monday or Thursday Horizon League game, Milwaukee came to Wisconsin on the tail end of a back-to-back. The Badgers benefited on a night where UW wasn't at its best to register its seventh home win by at least 20 points in eight home games.

Strangely enough, Wisconsin might be looking at the Panthers (7-7) as one of their best nonconference wins. Milwaukee was picked to win the league in the preseason and remains the only undefeated team in league play. No offense to Milwaukee, however, but the Badgers are going to see much tougher (and rested) teams coming up rapidly on their schedule that will have significant meaning for their postseason hopes.

Here are my takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Wisconsin's Defense Delivered

At the under-eight media timeout, Wisconsin was shooting 36.8 percent from the field and had missed nine of its 10 three-point shots. Yet, the game already felt well in hand.

Wisconsin saw the Panthers score on their first shot attempt and didn't see it happen again for over eight minutes. Milwaukee was 3-for-21 from the floor coming out of the timeout and down 22-6 after 13 minutes of game time.

UW limited passes to the low post and attempts around the rim, as well as contesting shots from the perimeter. A night after the Panthers went 9-for-25, they went 1-for-14 in the first half and 3-for-22 for the game.

"Going into Big Ten, we want to get our defense a little stronger and be in the right spot," Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd said. "When you're not banging in threes, defense becomes more important. We were able to guard as good as we can and keep growing in that phase of the game.

"I feel like when you come into conference, it's going to come down to last possessions at the end of the game. Whoever's defense can hold up and get them out there on the right side is usually happy."

Wisconsin's defense has been its Achilles' Heel for the majority of the 2025 portion of the schedule. The Badgers rank 54th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, a number padded by playing six Quad-4 opponents to make up for giving up 98 points to BYU and another 90 at Nebraska.

Milwaukee's offense hasn't been fantastic (155th in adjusted efficiency) but still rated significantly better than the other nonconference opponents the Badgers have played at home. Therefore, it should be noted that the Badgers made Josh Dixon shoot 15 times to get his 15 shots, Amar Augillard needed 15 shots to get his 15 points, and leading scorer Danilo Jovanovich (13.3 ppg) to 1-for-9 shooting.

Head coach Greg Gard said UW has to grow defensively in transition, saying they got scattered at times and allowed open looks at the rim. Boyd echoed those comments, saying defense and competing are two areas where the group still has room to grow.

"Big Ten play, no matter who you are playing, you are going to be playing teams that are hungry (and) want to win," Boyd said. "You got to bring your 'A' game every single night ... Knowing that you have got to have it every single day is important, and I think we have to keep stressing that as a group."

Winter and Blackwell return and make an impact

Two injured Badgers delivered steady performances in their final tune-up before restarting conference play

Nolan Winter delivered a sound 14 points, seven rebounds and a block in just over 21 minutes, while John Blackwell was well rounded with his eight points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and no turnovers in a team-high 27 minutes.

"It means everything to this team," said freshman center Will Garlock when asked of the impact of having Blackwell and Winter on the court. "They're our two leaders, along with Nick, right now, being some of older guys on the team. Having Nolan fully healthy, JB doing what he does, it just really helps this team and boosts this team."

The injuries stemmed from before the holiday break. Blackwell missed the Dec.22 win over Central Michigan was an undisclosed injury, while Winter hobbled off the floor with an apparent ankle injury with just under six minutes remaining in that game.

Winter was listed as questionable on Wisconsin's pre-game availability report, while Blackwell didn't carry an injury distinction.

Neither player was made available postgame, but Gard said Winter was able to "gut it out." His presence was important considering UW struggled keeping other forwards on the floor.

Starter Aleksas Bieliauskas had three fouls and top reserve Austin Rapp had four (two picked up with no time coming off the clock) with 17 minutes remaining. That allowed Garlock and Jack Robison to get some minutes in the second half.

Garlock played 12 minutes and matched his career high with five points while grabbing four rebounds, looking more comfortable on the low post with his footwork and playing through contact to draw fouls.

Robison checked in before the under-12 media timeout to give Winter a breather, right after the junior skied for a dunk, and ended up scoring two points in a career-high six minutes

Three-Point Malfunction

A team that is built to shoot the three-point shot is struggled to find a rhythm.

While Wisconsin entered the week averaging 11.0 three-pointer per game, which leads the Big Ten and ranks 19th nationally, the volume at which the Badgers are shooting the perimeter shot (32.0 attempts per game/12th in the country) weighs down the percentages.

Wisconsin entered the night shooting 34.5 percent from three, 153rd in the country, and didn't improve its percentage by going 4-for-22 from three.

"You always want to shoot it better," Gard said, "but to be able to find other ways to score when you're not raining threes is a good sign."

Gard is correct that Wisconsin found other ways. UW scored 46 points in the paint, got 31 points from its bench (UW's reserves have now scored 75 points in the last two games), and went 20-for-32 from the foul line.

Regardless, only three players in UW's 10-man rotation are shooting over 35 percent from three (Blackwell, Braeden Carrington, and Andrew Rohde) and none are hitting over 40 percent entering Big Ten play,

UW had shot worse than 30 percent from three five times, going 2-3 in those games,

Boyd - a career 37.0 percent three-point shooter entering the season - is shooting 29.9 percent from the perimeter. Jack Janicki hasn't made a three-pointer since December 3, while Rapp went from shooting 35.2 percent as a freshman at Portland to 29.9 percent at Wisconsin.

"Games like these are going to happen to any shooter no matter what level you play at," said freshman Zach Kinziger, who is 2-for-7 from three in his first two collegiate games. "I know one thing is I am going to keep shooting the ball whenever I get the looks. I know my teammates have confidence in me, my coaches tell me to shoot the ball when I'm open, so that's what I'm going to do."

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Benjamin Worgull
BENJAMIN WORGULL

Benjamin Worgull has covered Wisconsin men's basketball since 2004, having previously written for Rivals, USA Today, 247sports, Fox Sports, the Associated Press, the Janesville Gazette, and the Wisconsin State Journal.

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