Nick Boyd's dazzling performance leads No.24 Wisconsin Badgers over border-rival Iowa

MADISON, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin got its edge back.

Called out by their head coach for playing non-aggressively in Tuesday's loss at Ohio State, No.24 Wisconsin delivered in its penultimate home game of the season with an 84-71 victory over Iowa Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center.

It's the third Quad-1 win in the last four games for Wisconsin (19-8, 11-5 Big Ten), the 10th win for the Badgers against the top two quadrants and keeps them alone in sixth place in the conference standings with four games to go.

Final #Badgers Scoring
Nick Boyd 27 (career-high 10 assists), Nolan Winter 18, Austin Rapp 14, John Blackwell 13, Andrew Rohde 6, Aleksas Bieliauskas 4, Hayden Jones 2.

Wisconsin shot 53.8 percent, including 10-for-24 from three and 18-for-20 from the free throw line.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 22, 2026

Held to 14 points after missing nine shots and committing three turnovers against the Buckeyes, senior point guard Nick Boyd led the charge of aggression with his finest all-around performance of the season - 27 points, nine rebounds, and a career-high 10 assists.

His production seemed to come at all the right moments.

When Iowa came out attacking the paint and built a nine-point lead, Boyd had his hand in 13 of the next 15 Wisconsin points to retake the lead, doing it by attacking, facilitating, and rebounding.

He kept the offense humming in the second half. His quick pass to Austin Rapp after he grabbed the offensive rebound pushed the lead back to five, and his attacking layup on the next possession did the same.

That sparked a 12-2 run that gave Wisconsin its biggest lead at 13 with 3:57 remaining.

Boyd's afternoon overshadowed the impact of UW's frontcourt, as Nolan Winter (18 points, five rebounds) and Rapp (14 points) outperformed Iowa's undersized frontcourt.

Senior Bennett Stirtz had 23 points for Iowa (19-8, 9-7), which has lost seven of the last eight in the series.

What it means: Facing a defense that led the Big Ten in giving up 64.4 points per game, Wisconsin averaged 1.355 points per possession overall and 1.419 in the second half, attacking the Hawkeyes with dribble penetration and perimeter kickouts. It's an attack mode that was missing in Tuesday's loss, which the Badgers need moving forward if they want to make a run in March.

Star of the game: Boyd may have passed the ball as well as he had all season, delivering a number of no-look passes that were right on target and seemingly making the right split-second decisions with his passing and attacking that took advantage of every slow Iowa rotation or mistake.

Stat of the game: Wisconsin went 18-for-20 from the free-throw line, including 14-for-15 in the second half. The Hawkeyes were 8-for-11 from the line and didn't attempt a free throw in the second half.

Reason to be Concerned: The loss of Jack Janicki (wrist surgery) for the rest of the regular season, and probably longer, is going to be a bigger problem for Wisconsin than most people think due to UW's substitution patterns. The Badgers used freshman Hayden Jones in spurts, but freshman guard Zach Kinziger didn't factor in. Things were dicey in the first half when Rohde and Blackwell each had two fouls, as Greg Gard chose to put Rohde back on the floor for most of the final 5:27.

Don’t overlook: Returning to the rotation after missing the Ohio State loss with the flu, Rapp quickly made his presence known in the first half. In a two-minute span, Rapp hit two threes and started a fast break off a defensive possession that ended with a Boyd layup. His three-pointer with 4:38 remaining in front of the UW bench was a dagger to put the Badgers up 11.

What’s next: Wisconsin will begin its final road trip of the season when it heads to Eugene to face Oregon on Wednesday. It's been a disaster season for the Ducks (10-17, 3-13), as injuries to returning starters Nate Bittle (foot) and Jackson Shelsted (hand) have disjointed a roster that already looked shaky when the season started.

Although currently second-to-last in the league, the Ducks shocked USC in Los Angeles on Saturday by scoring the last seven points in a one-point win. Kwame Evans Jr. scored 21 points, while Bittle had 14 points, 11 rebounds, and four steals.

UW leads the all-time series, 6-4, including winning both games in Eugene. However, the Ducks won the first conference meeting between the two teams, 77-74, in overtime last season in Madison after the Badgers blew a 17-point lead.

The tip from the Matthew Knight Arena is at 10 p.m. CT and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.