Biggest takeaways from Wisconsin Badgers' 90-73 win at Washington Huskies

Coaches usually get little credit for a great performance but often all the blame when their team delivers a stinker.

That's what happened to Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard following Wednesday's 14-point road loss at previously three-conference-win Oregon. So, forgive him if he took a tongue-in-cheek approach when describing Braeden Carrington's school-record nine three-point makes en route to a career afternoon.

"It was all coaching," Gard said. "Just jack them up."

It takes a smart man to know when a veteran is in the zone, which is exactly where Carrington was during Wisconsin's 90-73 victory over Washington at the Alaska Airlines Arena. The senior reserve's three-pointers were part of the season-high 17 hit by the Badgers, with Carrington hitting six in the second half to keep the lead consistently over 13 points.

It clinched a double bye for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten) in the Big Ten Tournament in two weeks' time, gave the program a fifth-straight 20-win season, and a sixth Quad-1 victory to help erase Wednesday's pot mark. Here are my takeaways.

Quick Recap: Braeden Carrington's career-high in scoring and the #Badgers season-high in threes make for a comfortable 90-73 victory for Wisconsin at Washington https://t.co/zX5esHpmLx
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 28, 2026

Boyd and Carrington capitalized on Washington's defense

Three days after driving into an abundance of lane traffic and forcing low percentage shots around the rim, Wisconsin's guards were much smarter about picking the spots of when and when not to attack.

It certainly helped that UW's two most seasoned guards led by example.

Nick Boyd has been the offense's heartbeat all season long, so it was not surprising that his uncharacteristically low shooting performance at Oregon (11 points, 4-for-12 FG) was part of the reason the Badgers shot a season low 33.3 percent from the field and only scored four fast-break points.

He came out juiced on Saturday. He set the tone early by pushing pace off missed shots and by forcing turnovers. He scored six of UW's first nine points and eight of the first 14, all coming with him attacking the basket off the dribble. Boyd didn't make a three-pointer for the seventh time this season and didn't attempt a free throw for the third time, but his 22 points were a product of him finding space to get a high-percentage look from close to the basket. He went 11-for-20 from two and had only one layup attempt blocked.

Boyd's ability to get into the lane forced Washington to start hedging into the lane and creating space for UW's abundance of three-point shooters. UW's three starting guards (Boyd, John Blackwell, and Andrew Rohde) struggled in going 2-for-13, but Carrington carried the water with a school-record nine three-point makes.

His 32 points off the bench were not only a career high, but the most by a Badgers reserve since March 2012, when Rob Wilson scored 30 points in the Badgers' 79-71 win over No.15 Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament.

"He is a good shooter, he is confident, he is playing with really good teammates," Gard said of Carrington, who added four rebounds, three assists, and went 5-for-5 from the line, the only UW player to attempt a foul shot. "I think the spacing system really helps him. There are a lot of positives, and he is a very confident shooter. You can just tell and not get worked up in micromanaging shot selection. It puts a lot of pressure on the defense when you have a guy like him and (Austin) Rapp coming off the bench that can stretch the floor so much."

Carrington hit six threes in the second half, including ones on three consecutive possessions late to give him the record, but it was his third one that was a crucial early moment.

Scoreless for close to four minutes, Wisconsin had seen an early 13-point lead get cut to eight. Washington had an empty possession that could have cut the lead to two possessions, and the Badgers had an inbounds off an offensive rebound.

Gard sent Carrington back into the game, and the senior promptly hit a three to push the lead back to 11. Assisting on a Nolan Winter (13 points, 9 rebounds) layup on the next possession, Carrington and the Badgers never saw the lead drop below 10 the remainder of the game.

After scoring 20 points in 80 career games prior to coming to Wisconsin, Carrington has three 20-point performances in 28 games this season.

"When we play the right way, we're a handful offensively," Gard said.

Wisconsin limited the firepower

Washington had half of its roster unavailable on Saturday due to various injuries, leaving only eight healthy bodies to rotate in. The Huskies still had their top three offensive weapons, a trio that could do more than enough damage if Wisconsin wasn't careful.

While freshman forward Hannes Steinbach continued to put up impressive numbers, finishing with 22 points and 11 rebounds for his 18th double-double of the season, Wisconsin made life difficult for the Huskies' starting backcourt.

Zoom Diallo could only manage five points in a first half where the Huskies shot 25 percent and were held to 21 points, the fewest points the Huskies have scored in a half this season. Diallo got hot in the second half, scoring 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting when the defense allowed him to get to his driving hand, but the Badgers still outscored Washington by eight in the final 20 minutes because of the defensive job Andrew Rohde did on Wesley Yates III.

Yates went 1-for-17 from the floor, with his only basket being a three-point attempt with 3:01 remaining in the first half.

"You want to make sure you minimize how much confidence that they can get," Gard said. "Make them make tough shots and not give up too many easy ones. I thought we did that ... By and large, they did a good job of when something did go haywire. They adjusted very quickly."

It was far from a polished effort, considering Washington shot 62.9 percent from the floor in the second half (this coming off the heels of Oregon shooting 70.8 percent in the final 20 minutes Wednesday). The Huskies' first four buckets of the half came off turnovers or drives to the basket, but the Badgers' offense was able to counter some of the surges.

20 is still a special number

Wisconsin has two games remaining to better position itself for the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament seeding, its last two chances to chase a championship, but the Badgers still reached an impressive milestone with win number 20.

It's a number the Badgers have reached in 21 of the past 24 seasons and for the eighth time under Gard.

That number, along with winning 12 conference games for the seventh time under Gard and at least five Big Ten road wins in consecutive seasons, speaks to the level of consistency the program has maintained in the fast-changing world of college athletics.

"Harder than getting there is staying there, and our program has done an amazing job," Gard said. "There's a lot of fingerprints through the years that have helped make that so consistent, and this group this year. Times have changed, so to be able to stay consistent in an era that is spinning really fast and changing and evolving, one thing that hasn't changed is our ability to remain consistent and stay true to who we are and what works at Wisconsin."