Wisconsin Badgers become the nation's best at beating top ten teams

MADISON, Wis. - News and notes from Wisconsin's dominant 92-71 victory over No.10 Michigan State at the Kohl Center Friday night, moving the Badgers (18-7, 10-4) into a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten with six games remaining in the regular season.

Team notes

The Badgers have now reached 10 conference wins for the 22nd time in the last 25 years, more than any Big Ten team.

The Badgers notched their third top-10 win of the season along with a 91-88 win at #2 Michigan (1/10/26) and a 92-90 (ot) win at #8 Illinois (2/10/26).

Wisconsin now owns the most top-10 wins of any team in the nation.

Wisconsin has now won back-to-back games over top-10 teams for the first time since the 2015 NCAA Tournament when the Badgers knocked off No.5 Arizona and No.1 Kentucky.

COME ONNNN🦡‼️ pic.twitter.com/GnaBNDINvW
— Mason Posa (@MasonPosa) February 14, 2026

The only other time Wisconsin knocked off top-10 teams in consecutive regular-season games came in 1951-52. The Badgers won at No.7 Iowa (3/3/52) beat No.2 Illinois (3/8/52).

This is first time UW owns three regular season top-10 wins since 2015-16 (#4 Michigan State, No.2 Maryland, No.8 Iowa).

This marks the second consecutive season UW has tallied three wins over top-10 teams. In 2024-25, the Badgers beat #9 Arizona, #7 Purdue, and #7 Michigan State.

Over the last two seasons, Wisconsin is now 6-4 against top-10 teams, owning the second-highest win total in the nation behind Florida (9-4).

The Badgers are now 13-2 at home this season and are 28-4 at home games over the last two seasons.

Wisconsin owns an all-time record of 387-75 (.838) in the building - the 10th-best all-time home record in the country among active venues.

Wisconsin is 136-38 (.782) at home under head coach Greg Gard.

Wisconsin has now won four of its last five games against Michigan State dating back to the 2023-24 season.

Since the arrival of Bo Ryan and Greg Gard to Wisconsin in 2001, the Badgers and Spartans have met 48 times and the series is exactly tied 24-24.

Gard improved his overall record to 231-124 (.651) with a mark of 127-81 (.611) in Big Ten play, surpassing John Beilein for 18th on the conference's all-time wins list. He's 11 Big Ten wins away from tying Northwestern Arthur Lonborg (1928-50) for 17th.

Wisconsin's .611 conference win percentage in the Gard era (since 2015-16) trails only Purdue (.717) and Michigan State (.665) for best in the Big Ten during that span.

Under Greg Gard, UW has now collected 18 wins over AP top-10 opponents, going 18-26 (.409).

Gard's 18 wins are tied for the third-highest mark in the Big Ten and 10th-highest total in the nation in his tenure.

Gard also matched Bo Ryan, for the most top-10 wins in program history, while owning the top win percentage in Badger annals.
Greg Gard (2016-26) 18-26 0.395
Bo Ryan (2002-16) 18-33 0.353
Bud Foster (1935-59) 7-19 0.269
Dick Bennett (1996-01) 5-13 0.278

Wisconsin topped 90 points for a school-record 11th time this season. Wisconsin is 16-0 when scoring at least 80 this season.

The game was tied for a total of :42 seconds in the early going. Michigan State never led in the contest.

UW has won 10+ B1G games in 21 of the last 24 seasons, the only team to achieve that.

Another sensational Nick Boyd night extended that run to 22 out of 25 seasons, as the #Badgers delivered a third top-10 takedown by crushing Michigan State, 92-71.https://t.co/FjpNLx75HT
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) February 14, 2026

Michigan State suffered its worst loss since Feb. 2, 2022 – A 26-point loss at Iowa.

The Badgers led 51-34 at the half. The last time a Big Ten team scored 51+ points in a first half against Michigan State was 2017 when Michigan scored 55 in a 86-57 win over MSU (2/7/17).

Wisconsin went 10-for-17 from 3-point range in the first half, marking the team's third time

hitting double digit triples in a half this season: 10-18 at Minnesota (2nd H) and 10-17 at Michigan (2nd H).

The Badgers' 21-point win was the largest for a Big Ten team over a top-10 opponent this season and the largest since Illinois won at No. 9 Oregon, 109-77 on Jan. 2, 2025

The Badgers turned the ball over six times in the win and are 15-2 when committing 10 or fewer turnovers.

Wisconsin hit 15-of-35 threes (42.9 percent) in the victory. The Badgers now have three separate 15+ three point performances against top-10 teams this season. Since 2004-05, only three teams in the nation have logged three such performances against top-10 teams across the entire 20+ season span.

The Badgers are now 9-1 when shooting 40.0 percent or better from 3-point range.

Individual notes

Graduate student Nick Boyd tallied a game-high 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting and a 5-for-7 clip from distance. He also grabbed three boards and dished four assists.

In five games against top-10 opponents, Boyd is averaging 23.2 ppg. That scoring average vs. top-10 teams ranks third in the nation this season behind BYU's A.J. Dybantsa (25.7) and Illinois' Keaton Wagler (23.3).

Boyd became just the second Big Ten player in the last 20 seasons to have consecutive 25+ point games, both coming against top-10 opponents (Joins Carsen Edwards - Purdue).

Boyd has scored at least 20 points in seven straight games, the longest such streak by a Badger since Alando Tucker did it in seven straight games during the 2006-07 season.

Boyd registered his 17th 20-point game of the season, which ranks second in the Big Ten behind Northwestern's Nick Martinelli's 18 games.

Junior John Blackwell finished with 24 points on 6-of-14 shooting, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the line and posting a 4-for-9 clip from deep. Blackwell has now scored in double figures in 11 straight games, the longest such streak of his career.

Nolan Winter tallied his 12th double-double of the season, posting 10 points 4-of-7 shooting and grabbing 11 boards. Winter has now scored in double figures in 20 games this season and posted his 14th game with doubledigit rebounds this season.

More Wisconsin Badgers News:

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Wisconsin Badgers making a push toward a Big Ten Tournament double bye

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Former Wisconsin Badgers standout delivers a career-best NBA performance