Blackwell, Boyd shine as Wisconsin advances with tight win over Washington

CHICAGO - John Blackwell was a little nervous to admit what he had been likely feeling for the last few months. However, it came to a point where he couldn't bite his tongue any longer.

After Blackwell and senior Nick Boyd combined for 48 points in Wisconsin's 97-93 win at No.15 Purdue Saturday, Blackwell boasted that he thought the Badgers have the " best backcourt in the country." That two-man tandem did nothing to dissuade that opinion five days later.

Whether it be drives to the rim, rhythm three-pointers, and every kind of shot in between, Blackwell and Boyd found themselves in a shot-making zone during fifth-seeded Wisconsin's 85-82 victory over 12th-seeded Washington in the Big Ten Tournament third round at the United Center.

Blackwell set a new school Big Ten Tournament record for points (34), field goals made (14), and attempts (24) to go along with 10 rebounds. Boyd, playing his first game since being snubbed from the Big Ten's first team, added 23 for the Badgers (23-9), which grinded through a game without their best offense to set up a quarterfinals matchup against fourth-seed Illinois tomorrow afternoon.

With Nolan Winter (ankle) and his team-leading 8.6 rebounds per game sitting out a second straight game, freshman Aleksas Bieliauskas delivered eight points and 10 rebounds, eight coming in the opening half.

Final #Badgers scoring

John Blackwell 34 (10 rbds), Nick Boyd 23, Braeden Carrington 9, Aleksas Bieliauskas 8 (10 rbds), Austin Rapp 3, Hayden Jones 3, Will Garlock 3, Andrew Rohde 2.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) March 12, 2026

Wisconsin was far from its usual standard of efficient offense, but the Badgers grew their early lead thanks to their defense. The Badgers started 6-for-14 from the floor on their first 13 possessions, but built a 17-5 lead by walling up the Huskies.

While forward Hannes Steinbach (25 points, 16 rebounds) and guard Zoom Diallo (24 points) got their points, the Huskies (16-17) had little early success against UW's interior defense. Getting only two shots at the rim and four from beyond the perimeter in the early minutes, the Huskies being forced into mid-range attempts didn't pan out with a 2-for-11 start and .417 points over their first 12 possessions.

Wisconsin kept Washington that way throughout the opening half, managing a 34.4 shooting percentage and .971 points per possession. The defense lifted up the offense, which got 29 points from Boyd and Blackwell (11-for-21) but saw the rest of the roster went 5-for-16.

With their season on the line, the Huskies didn't go quiet. Trailing by as many as 18 points early in the second half, Washington cut the lead to four with 2:39 remaining, to two with 2:02 remaining, and one with 1:07 remaining.

Blackwell and Diallo traded buckets on the next two possessions, and UW successfully broke the press break to get senior Andrew Rohde to the line. Making both free throws with 8.3 seconds on the clock, Diallo's game-tying three was slightly off to the left to allow the Badgers to survive.

What it means: Wisconsin added a Quad-2 win to its resume and will likely wake up tomorrow in the top 25 of the NET rankings. With likely only Quad-1 games from now until Selection Sunday, the Badgers are putting themselves in position to get a solid seed on Sunday and, perhaps, a spot close to home in St. Louis.

Star of the game: Blackwell snapped out of his second scoring funk at the right time. After scoring 25 points at Purdue, Blackwell's offense carried the Badgers through a sluggish first half and sparked them in the second. The junior had 15 of UW's 29 points by the under-12 media timeout, having gone 6-for-6 from the floor (3-for-3 3FG).

Stat of the game: Wisconsin was outrebounded, 45-29, outscored in the paint, 40-24, and out shot from the foul line (15-8) and still found a way.

Reason to be Concerned: Washington only played seven players, and the Badgers didn't do a good enough job getting the Huskies into foul trouble. The Huskies only committed 13 fouls (four coming from reserve guard Courtland Muldrew) and UW only went 8-for-8 from the foul line.

Don’t overlook: Wisconsin saw a 13-point lead cut to four with 1:24 remaining in the first half when Boyd hit a corner three-pointer, Wisconsin's defense held Washington scoreless on a two offensive rebound possession, and had Bieliausksas clean up an offensive rebound for a three-point play with 1.2 seconds left. UW went into the locker room with some breathing room at 43-33.

What’s next: The Badgers and the Illini will meet in the Big Ten tournament for the eighth time, but for only the second time since 2010. Illinois (24-7, 15-5) went 4-4 down the stretch to get the last triple-bye, clinching it with a too-close-for-comfort 78-72 win at Maryland, but the Illini have plenty of talent in guard Keaton Wagler, a first-team all-conference selectino and the league's unanimous freshman of the year, and all-defensive team selection Kylan Boswell, who didn't play in UW's 92-90 overtime win at Illinois on Feb.8 while recovering from a wrist injury.

Wisconsin and Illinois will tip at approximately 1:30 p.m. and will be televised by the Big Ten Network.