Revenge only a small subplot for the Wisconsin Badgers in rematch against BYU Cougars

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard understands the narrative but knows it needs to be put into context.

After all, it's hard to play the revenge card when 70 percent of your rotation had nothing to do with happened previously. It's part of the reason why Gard is not hyping up what happened when these two teams met last met ahead of this afternoon's rematch at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

"We're a new team with a lot of new pieces," Gard said, "and so are they."

The Badgers overwent a facelift following BYU's 91-89 victory in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The graduation of three starters and two reserves who played against the Cougars, as well as one bench player and several reserves entering the transfer portal, doesn't fit the revenge narrative.

Well, not entirely.

Junior center Nolan Winter started and scored six points in 20 minutes against the Cougars. He was watching from the bench as the final possession played out right in front of him, when John Tonje's contested off-balanced jumper fell short. As of Wednesday afternoon, he hadn't had the desire to rewatch the game.

"We remember that taste in the locker room after and what we walked out of Denver with last year," said Winter, who along with starting guard John Blackwell and reserve guard Jack Janicki are the only current rotation players who played against BYU in March. "I think that's the biggest thing we're going to take into this game, that pain we were in after."

In a lot of ways, BYU is a better team than the one the Badgers saw in Denver last March. The Cougars still have Richie Sanders and Dawson Baker doing what they do well in the backcourt, as well as Keba Keita still being a handful in the low post.

However, BYU has Robert Wright - a Baylor transfer - running the point and the sophomore can put a ton of pressure on the rim with how he attacks more than last year's guard Egor Demin. The x-factor is AJ Dybantsa, a McDonalds All-American who was a preseason AP All-American who is playing like it. BYU has started him at the four and three because Dybantsa can push the ball in transition, cause matchup problems, and score in a variety of ways.

"You hear all the comparisons," Gard said. "Is he Kevin Garnett? Is he Kevin Durant? He's really, really talented at the game of basketball, and he's big. He's MVP of all the international stuff that he's played in. He's a really, really good player, which is why he'll probably get drafted really high."

let ‘em know @AJ_Dybantsa pic.twitter.com/jWF92dHRUW
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) November 21, 2025

Although both teams are built differently, the Badgers can take some lessons from the spring because the Cougars' overall concept hasn't changed of pushing the ball, attacking the glass, and being efficient.

Last March, BYU jumped out to a 16-8 lead in the first 4:21 because the Cougars executed on the fast break and attacked the paint. BYU was plus-eight in the paint, led 6-0 in fast-break points, and had 12 second-chance points on nine offensive rebounds.

A combination of the pick-and-roll, both at the high post and the low post, got shooters to the rim and gave BYU 11 assists on 17 first-half baskets. UW cut down the offensive rebounds in half in the final 20 minutes, but shutting off the paint and the fast break was still problematic, a reason why UW trailed the entire game.

Entering this afternoon, BYU is fifth nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency and averaging 84.5 points per game and doing a lot of the same things that gave UW fits.

"It did take us awhile until we really got our feet underneath us," Gard said. "Understanding what we're going into and what that's going to feel like ... Transition defense is vital, stopping the ball is vital, finding the shooters in transition is vital, being able to build a wall. I just didn't start talking about it. Hopefully all those lessons in our work and our emphasis on that part of the defensive end can help us when we see a team like this."

While BYU has already been challenged against high-level competition, beginning the year beating Villanova in Las Vegas (the Badgers will see the Wildcats next month in Milwaukee) and a narrow two-point loss to No.3 UConn in Boston, Wisconsin had stayed at home beating up on four mid-major opponents.

The schedule was designed that way to build on-court chemistry, experience and character with all the new pieces, particularly with three freshmen - forwards Aleksas Bieliauskas and Will Garlock and guard Hayden Jones - learning their roles within UW's system. Now the training wheels are off, as they prepare to play their first power-conference opponent in what promises to be a pro-BYU environment in a venue roughly 50 minutes from their campus.

"All of us that return from last year, it's on us to really show the new guys what this game means to us," Winter said. "Obviously cut our season short last year, thinking we could make a good run. For us to show that and exemplify to the younger guys and the new guys, it's an important game to us returners, and we're going to make sure the new guys know that."

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