Cold-Shooting Wisconsin Badgers suffer 85-71 loss to struggling Oregon Ducks

With Oregon surrounding its 7-foot senior center with size and length, the Ducks spent the night daring the University of Wisconsin to beat them from the perimeter. The Badgers obliged, and it was to their detriment.

Seeing multiple open looks fail to find the net, Wisconsin's worst shooting night cost them an 85-71 loss to 17th-place Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene on Wednesday night.

The loss is a crushing blow to Wisconsin (19-9, 11-6 Big Ten) and its hope of finishing in the top four of the conference to get a triple bye into the quarterfinals. UW sits in a tie for sixth place and trails four teams by two in the loss column with three to play.

Final Scoring
John Blackwell 22, Nick Boyd 11, Braeden Carrington 8, Austin Rapp 8, Andrew Rohde 8, Nolan Winter 7, Aleksas Bieliauskas 5, Hayden Jones 2.#Badgers shoot a season-worst 33.3 percent from the floor.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 26, 2026

John Blackwell led Wisconsin with 22 points, but the junior needed 14 three-point attempts to get there. Blackwell also didn't hit a two-point field, going 0-for-4 inside the arc.

That was a theme for the Badgers' offense, consistently chucking up three-pointers while struggling to convert near the rim and inside the arc. UW was 3-for-11 on layups and 8-for-21 on twos, as Oregon set a new conference high with eight blocks.

The bulk of the shots were from the perimeter, open looks considering how the Ducks loaded and zoned the paint to prevent guards Blackwell and Nick Boyd (11 points) from controlling the game with their dribble penetration.

Wisconsin surpassed its average of 11 three-pointers per game with 14 makes but attempted a school-record 45 to get there.

The problems weren't isolated to the offense. The Ducks (11-17, 4-13) shot 70.8 percent in the second half and iced the game away for their best NET win of the season.

The Badgers didn't have an answer for Oregon center Nate Bittle for the second straight year. After Bittle scored 18 of his 23 points after halftime in a four-point overtime win, Bittle was even better in the rematch with 20 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals, and one turnover.

He was one of four Oregon players in double figures, as the Ducks outscored the Badgers by 17 in the second half.

Not sure what's worse: Wisconsin going 14-for-45 on threes (31.1 percent) or 3-for-11 on layups (27.3 percent). #Badgers
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 26, 2026

UW's lack of 3-point success didn't force the Ducks to try something different defensively.

The deficit grew to 11 with 6:24 remaining, which seemed a perfect spot for the comeback kids. UW's five comebacks of at least 10 points are tied for the most in the country among high major teams.
Boyd scored his first bucket of the second half when he slashed to the rim and finished with his left hand and then hit Blackwell for a three on the next possession to cut the lead to six.

UW would get no closer, as Oregon scored 11 points on the next four possessions and scored five points off turnovers to push the lead to 13.

Attempting its first nine shots from three to start the game, Wisconsin hit four of them and was 6-for-11 from the floor to build an early nine-point lead. It promptly gave it all back, as UW went scoreless for the next 5:34 and finished the rest of the half 3-for-19 from the floor. UW never got hot again.

What it means: This will go down as a Quad-2 loss to Wisconsin, but the Badgers just lost to a three-win conference team because it couldn't find a way to generate offense on a night where perimeter shots weren't falling. This team is either red hot or ice cold and it was definitely the latter on Wednesday.

Star of the game: Bittle. Unless UW gets unlucky with its tournament draw, the Badgers will never have to see him dominate them again.

Stat of the game: Wisconsin started 5-for-19 in the second half, making only one two-point shot, and having unforced errors that resulted in transition points. A team that likes to push and run, Wisconsin was outscored 17-4 in fast break points and 34-16 in the paint.

Reason to be Concerned: Nolan Winter hobbled to the locker room after getting his foot stepped on, setting a screen early in the second half, with 16:01 remaining. He returned at the 11:34 mark but didn't look comfortable.

Don’t overlook: Wisconsin didn't hesitate to burn through its challenge. Boyd was adamant that his three-point shot was tipped by Bittle on the first possession of the game, so much so that head coach Greg Gard challenged it after a slight delay. The call stood after the video replay didn't show indisputable evidence, causing the Badgers to lose their challenge and a timeout after 26 seconds.

What’s next: Wisconsin will remain on the West Coast and begin preparing to play Washington in Seattle on Saturday. Like the Ducks, the Huskies (14-14, 6-11) have had their season derailed by injuries but have one of the league's top freshmen in forward Hannes Steinbach. Registering 24 points and 16 rebounds in Tuesday's win over Rutgers, Steinback has 17th double-double of the season, tied for second in Division 1.

Guards Zoom Diallo (14.7) and Wesley Yates (13.4) are solid scoring threats around Steinback.
This will be Wisconsin's first trip to Seattle since 1955. The Badgers won the first conference meeting between the two schools last year in Madison.

The tip from the Alaska Airlines Arena is at 3 p.m. CT and will be televised on FS1.