Biggest takeaways from Wisconsin Badgers' 89-73 loss to No.5 Purdue

MADISON, Wis. - A prop-less Greg Gard tried his best to make his point

The University of Wisconsin head coach believes his team is close to putting a complete performance together, putting his fingers narrowly apart in what some would consider an act of blind faith. In reality, Wisconsin looks miles away from that belief, which was why Gard went from fingers close together to a good three-foot gap.

"We're that close, but yet we're that close," Gard said as he moved his fingers. "We've got things to get more consistent at. We had a plan, you have to work your plan, you have to be committed to you plan. When you get a little off track, the really elite teams makes you pay for that."

Wisconsin looked like a team that can frustrate, complete and even beat an upper-echelon team in the nation, but the problem was sustainability and execution in the Badgers' 89-73 loss to No.5 Purdue at the Kohl Center Saturday.

The result has followed a growing negative trend for Wisconsin (9-5, 1-3 Big Ten), which has trailed by 32, 33, and now 25 in three games against ranked opponents with a 24.7-point average margin of defeat.

"I know what this team has, and I know what we are capable of," said center Nolan Winter, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. "The margins don't look too pretty, but I know what we're capable of."

There type of games aren't going away. The Badgers have a Quad-2 game Tuesday against UCLA and face arguably the nation's best team on the road in No.2 Michigan next Saturday.

"We just got to get one," said senior guard Nick Boyd, who led all scorers with 24 points. "You get one, we see what it takes every single night, but once we get over that hump and get one, I think this team is going to get rolling."

Here my takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Recap: Wisconsin showed in stretches that the #Badgers have the makings of a good team. The problem is that it's nowhere close for 40 minutes, which allowed No.5 Purdue to take control of the game and not relent in an 89-73 victory https://t.co/cW925KQqYW
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) January 4, 2026

Early Second Half was the Game

The first 20 minutes were full of pendulum swings. There were five lead changes, one tie, each team led by seven at one point and each led for at least 8:30. There was only one swing in the second half, and it was gargantuan.

UW cut a halftime deficit down to four after two possessions but imploded on both ends, allowing Purdue to break the game open. In a nine-possession span, the Boilermakers scored off the fast break, off turnovers, from the perimeter, and bullying their way into the paint.

Wisconsin actually outscored Purdue, 32-28, in the lane, but the amount of dribble penetration into the paint - resulting in points at the rim, fouls, and kickouts - was crippling. Purdue got three offensive rebounds on its fifth possession after halftime, courtesy of forward Trey Kaufman-Renn and center Oscar Cluff. The Boilers had 14 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second-chance points.

"When you give a team like that any type of life or opportunity, they usually capitalize," Boyd said. "That's the biggest thing we took from this game. We were right there, but when you give any great team like that opportunity to capitalize, they usually do. That's how you look up (at the scoreboard) and you're down big time."

While Purdue was making shot after shot, Wisconsin was laying brick after brick. After countering Purdue's offensive firepower in the first half, Wisconsin was helpless to answer as it missed 11 of 12 shots, stretching over nine minutes that included nine missed threes.

The inability to shoot the three made life easy for Purdue. Head coach Matt Painter said after the game that his team worked in practice on defending the Badgers two different ways. After the Badgers starting the game attacking the paint, Painter switched his defense to start hedging to keep the ball out of the lane.

The risk was worth it considering the Badgers weren't anywhere near threatening from the perimeter.

"They got some good looks and didn't make them," Painter said. "Things always look better when you make shots and things always look worse when you miss shots ... They consistently missed them, (so) we didn't have to change. We just kind of held right there.

"We didn't want to hand them threes, but we wanted to keep the ball out of the paint."

Gard and sophomore Austin Rapp (1-for-6 3FG) stated the Badgers are a better shooting team than the one that was on display Friday, and that a team full of players who can shoot the ball can't lose confidence. The growing problem is that those shots haven't fallen against quality competition.

Following its 4-for-25 night, the Badgers have shot 25 percent or less from three five times this season. It's happened four times against power-four conference teams and all resulted in losses: BYU (24.1%), TCU (25%), Nebraska (21.9%), and Purdue (16.0%). The only win happened four days earlier against Milwaukee (18.2%).

The only power-conference team UW shot well against from three was Northwestern (35.5), and the Wildcats are 8-6 overall and 0-3 in conference.

The finish to the first half wasn't great either

As if almost by design, Wisconsin attempted only one three on the first nine possessions, putting the perimeter shot on the back burner in favor of attacking the rim with a combination of John Blackwell, Boyd and Winter. Blackwell had two layups and six points in the first 2:11, Winter was generating rebounds, layups, and fouls, and Boyd kept the accelerator down on drives to the rim.

It was more individual efforts as opposed to good ball movement. UW had only three assists in the first half and seven on 24 field goals, but the Badgers were converting at the rim and keeping pace.

"In the first 15 minutes, we had some swag," Boyd said. "We was fighting and punching."

As if a switch was flipped, the Badgers became sloppy. UW committed four turnovers in six possessions from the 10:04 mark to the 7:11 mark, including three in a row that was a mixture of bad and lazy passes. It led to six points for Purdue but more importantly gave them a jolt and made things easier for them to get into an offensive flow.

UW committed seven turnovers in its final 22 possessions of the first half, resulting in the Badgers averaged 0.63 points per possession while Purdue scored 10 points off the turnovers.

The Boilermakers never trailed after the 7:25 mark of the first half, finishing the game with 18 points off 11 UW turnovers.

"When you're playing a team this experience, elite, composed with a terrific point guard, the margin of error is nonexistent," Gard said.

Blackwell's struggles make life hard

For whatever reason, Blackwell hasn't looked remotely close to the player who was firing on all cylinders in late November. Registering three 30-point performances in the first nine games, Blackwell has just 38 points and one missed start in the last five games.

In the four games he's played since being named the Big Ten Player of the Week, Blackwell is shooting 29.2 percent. He scored six quick points in the first three minutes and didn't score again until less than four minutes remained.

Blackwell went 4-for-11 and 0-for-5 from three, being held to single digits (nine points) for the third time in the last four games.

"He's in a little bit of a rut right now," Painter said of Blackwell, who hasn't talked to the media since mid-December. "The guy I played for used to always say it's not who you play, it's when you play them. I thought we played him at a good time .. When you're a scorer like that, you need to see the ball go in ... His three just looked flat."

It didn't help that Blackwell dealt with foul trouble. He picked up his first foul at the 9:33 mark that prevented a fast break after a Winter pass resulted in a turnover. He got his second 39 seconds later on an unnecessary reach-in foul, forcing him to the bench for the next eight minutes.

"When you get in foul trouble, it throws your rhythm off to get back in rhythm," Boyd said.

Blackwell played 17 minutes in the second half but looked off. He was 1-for-7 from the floor, didn't register a steal, and had a turnover.

"We're not as good a team, and that's both ends of the floor," Gard said. "He's got to play up to his potential."

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