Preview: Washington can exploit Wisconsin's weaknesses better than Oregon did

Wisconsin completes its West Coast road trip when it faces Washington in a Quad-1 game this afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena in the Badgers' first game in Seattle in more than 70 years.

It'll be an important bounce-back game for the Badgers, who played poorly in an 85-71 loss at Oregon on Wednesday. It was Wisconsin's first loss of the season to a sub.500 opponent and severely damaged its chances to receive a coveted triple bye in the conference tournament.

The Huskies are coming off of a 1-1 road trip, defeating Rutgers 79-72 on Tuesday. It was just the fourth win of the season for one of the four West Coast Big Ten teams in the Eastern Time Zone.

Here is a look at both teams, along with a prediction for this afternoon's contest.

Wisconsin (19-9, 11-6 Big Ten) vs. Washington (14-14, 6-11 Big Ten)

Date/Time – Sunday, February 28, 3 p.m.
Arena – Alaska Airlines Arena
TV – FS1 (Carlo Jimenez and Matt Muehlebach)
Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch)
Coaches - Greg Gard at Wisconsin (232-126 in his 11th season). Danny Sprinkle at Washington (27-32 in his second year; 136-72 in his 7th season)
Series – Washington leads 3-1; 1-0 in Seattle
Point Spread – Wisconsin -1.5

Looking to snap a three-game road losing streak, Wisconsin plays its first game in Seattle in more than seven decades when it faces Washington this afternoon. Here's how to watch, listen, and stream the game, the betting lines, and things to know #Badgers https://t.co/fZHULquuEg
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 28, 2026

Wisconsin probable starters

2 Nick Boyd (6-3 Senior Guard, 20.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.9 apg)
7 Andrew Rohde (6-6 Senior Guard, 6.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.8 apg)
25 John Blackwell (6-4 Junior Guard, 18.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.3 apg)
31 Nolan Winter (6-11 Junior Forward, 13.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.6 apg)
32 Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-10 Freshman Forward, 4.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.7 apg)
Off the bench
0 Braeden Carrington (6-5 Senior Guard, 7.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.9 apg)
13 Hayden Jones (6-6 Freshman Guard, 1.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.4 apg)
22 Austin Rapp (6-10 Sophomore Forward, 9.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.6 apg)
Player to watch
Blackwell finished with 22 points on Wednesday to lead all scorers, going 6-for-14 from three-point range. Last season, Blackwell tallied his first-career double-double with 24 points (4-7 3FG) and 10 rebounds in the win over Washington.

Showdown in Seattle
Badgers 🆚 Huskies
⏰ 3 p.m. CT
📍 Seattle, Washington
📺 @FS1
🔗 https://t.co/J8C5gsKSjC pic.twitter.com/iJI1oAd9U5
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) February 28, 2026

Washington probable starters

0 Quimari Peterson (6-1 Senior Guard, 8.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.2 apg)
5 Zoom Diallo (6-4 Sophomore Guard, 14.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.3 apg)
6 Hannes Steinbach (6-11 Freshman Forward, 18.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.6 apg)
9 Wesley Yates III (6-4 Sophomore Guard, 13.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.4 apg)
11 Franck Kepnang (6-11 Graduate Center, 6.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.2 apg)
Off the bench
8 Bryson Tucker (6-7 Sophomore Forward, 5.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.5 apg)
24 Lathan Sommerville (6-10 Sophomore Center, 4.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.2 apg)
30 Courtland Muldrew (6-3 Freshman Guard, 1.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.7 apg)
33 Nikola Dzepina (6-10 Freshman Forward, 2.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.4 apg)
Player to watch
Steinbach leads the Power Five and is second nationally with 17 double doubles, which includes eight games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. He enters the weekend fourth nationally in rebounding.

Tomorrow's afternoon plans are set ✅

🎟️ https://t.co/zIzTT3XSYn pic.twitter.com/vGA8GJXE8E
— Washington Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) February 27, 2026

Series notes

The Badgers are making their first trip to Seattle since a 54-53 loss in 1955.

Washington has made 3 visits to the state of Wisconsin, splitting games in Madison and the Huskies claiming an 81-67 win over the Badgers in the 1965 Milwaukee Classic.

Wisconsin hasn't played in Washington since the 2003 NCAA Tournament in Spokane. Wisconsin topped Weber State, 81-74, before beating Tulsa, 61-60, to advance to the 2003 Sweet 16.

Wisconsin has played a total of 15 games in the Pacific Northwestern (Washington, Oregon and Idaho), going 5-10 overall. In addition to Spokane and Seattle, the Badgers are 1-2 in Boise, Idaho (2001 and 2009 NCAA Tournaments), 2-1 in Eugene, Oregon (vs. Univ. of Oregon) and 0-6 in Portland, Oregon (1960 and 1981 Far West Classics).

Wisconsin notes

UW's 19 games with 10+ triples rank second in school history as only last year's team recorded more double-digit three-point games (20) than this year's squad.

Blackwell and Boyd are looking to join exclusive company at Wisconsin. Since 1990, only five players have averaged 19.0 ppg: John Tonje (2025), Johnny Davis (2022), Alando Tucker (2006-07), Devin Harris (2004) and Michael Finley (1993-95). All five earned All-America mention.

The Badgers are 3-0 this season in games when Rohde scores 10+ points.

Carrington is shooting 49-of-122 (40.2%) from three-point range and 10-for-22 (45.5%) from two.

Washington notes

Washington has implemented 12 different starting lineups this season, as 10 different Washington players have combined to miss 94 games through injury. Zoom Diallo and Quimari Peterson are the only players to play in every game.

Washington ranks 13th in the country in the distance it forces opponents to take 2-point shots, per KenPom. Huskies opponents have shot their 2-pointers from an average distance of 7.0 feet.

The Huskies have outrebounded 18 of their first 28 opponents this season. Washington is 12-6 when owning the rebounding battle, 2-8 when tying or losing it.

Washington is 8-5 at home this season, outscoring opponents by an average of 9.2 points. Over the last 20 seasons, Washington is 249-100 (.713) at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Prediction

This afternoon was thought to be the hardest of Wisconsin's two games in the Pacific Northwest, and now the game carries more importance after how badly UW was exposed by the Ducks on Wednesday.

Wisconsin controlled the glass against Oregon, having a 16-5 edge in rebounds and finishing +10 in second-chance points, but the Badgers scored only 16 points in the paint against the Ducks' interior size. Washington is built with interior size, starting with a 6-11 forward who is an NBA prospect and a graduate center who is third in the Big Ten and 25th nationally with 56 blocks. Wisconsin might get lucky and not see Kepnang, who missed Washington's last game with leg soreness, but will then have to face a 6-10 sophomore who was a consensus four-star prospect. Washington still dominated Rutgers without Kepnang, owning a 40-28 paint-point advantage and finishing plus-five in rebounds.

Wisconsin's season-low shooting percentage at Oregon (33.3 percent), 12 turnovers, and an inability to get downhill allowed the Ducks to hang around in the first half, when it shot less than 40 percent. Oregon got hot after halftime in part because it got out in transition, as Wisconsin's inefficiency allowed the Ducks to score 15 of their 17 fast-break points in the final 20 minutes.

Washington has shown to be a better shooting team in the second half. The Huskies shoot 2,7 percent better overall after halftime, including 6.1 percent from three. However, over the last six games, Washington is shooting 57.3 percent in the first half, including the school’s two best first-half shooting performances since 2015 (76.9% vs. Iowa and 66.7% vs. Minnesota). The Huskies shot 50 percent against Rutgers, boosted by scoring a Big Ten high 18 fastbreak points.

Wisconsin's offense lacked patience against the Ducks, especially from its two starting guards, which led to the problems. Blackwell didn't make a two-point shot and missed eight three-pointers. Boyd's 4-for-12 shooting performance was his worst since January 13.

It might be an aberration for Boyd, considering his consistent scoring punch all season (double figures in all 28 games), but Blackwell has gone through shooting droughts this season before. He's 8-for-26 in the last two games, so getting him back and being consistent is imperative for UW's offense to function.

These things make this a scary matchup and should give pause to those picking Wisconsin. However, after the Badgers delivered a dud against Ohio State, Boyd helped the program rebound with a well-rounded performance against Iowa. I choose to lean on that because the Badgers are the better team that hasn't lost back-to-back games in over two months.

Prediction: Wisconsin by six
Worgull's Prediction: 20-8 (15-13 ATS)
Points off Prediction: 333 (11.9 ppg)