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Wisconsin Badgers join rare company with second top-10 road win of the season

Wisconsin Badgers have beaten multiple top-10 Big Ten teams on the road for only the third time in school history
Benjamin Worgull|
Feb 10, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard hugs player John Blackwell (25) after a win over the Illinois Fighting Illini at State Farm Center.
Feb 10, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard hugs player John Blackwell (25) after a win over the Illinois Fighting Illini at State Farm Center. | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

News and notes from Wisconsin's 92-90 overtime victory over No.8 Illinois at the State Farm Center on Tuesday night.

It's the second top-10 road win of the season for the Badgers (17-7, 9-4 Big Ten), which moved into a tie for fifth place in the league.

Team notes

Wisconsin overcame a 12-point deficit, 71-59, with 8:10 remaining to pull out the win. That marked the Badgers' largest second-half road comeback win since a 13-point comeback win at Minnesota on 2/16/02.

Tuesday marked the fifth time in the last nine games in which Wisconsin has overcome a double-digit deficit to win the game. Wisconsin trailed by: 14 at Michigan, 11 at Minnesota, 20 vs. Minnesota, 11 vs. Ohio State, and 12 at Illinois.

In erasing a 12-point second-half deficit Tuesday, the Badgers have now tallied two double-digit second-half comebacks in Big Ten play (also down 18 vs. Minnesota). This is the first time UW has registered two such comeback wins in conference play since the 2001-02 season: down 10 at Michigan State and down 13 at Minnesota.

Wisconsin improved to 1-2 in overtime games this season, posting its first-ever OT win over Illinois (1-5 all-time).

The Badgers are now 4-2 in true road games this season.

Wisconsin improved to 54-48 (.529) in Big Ten road games under Greg Gard. Among Big Ten teams, only Purdue (60-44, .577) has a better win percentage and more wins in that era.

Gard improved his overall record to 230-124 (.650) with a mark of 126-81 (.609) in Big Ten play, tying John Beilein (126-92, .578) for 18th on the conference's all-time wins list.

Wisconsin's .609 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.

Wisconsin scored 92 points, topping 90 for a school-record 10th time this season.

Wisconsin is 15-0 when scoring at least 80 this season.

The Badgers turned the ball over just four times, including once in the final 31:24 of action. Those four turnovers matched the team's fewest of the season.

Wisconsin is 14-2 on the season with 10 or fewer TOs.

Wisconsin hit a season-high 16 3FGs, the team's most ever in a road game. The Badgers shot 16-for-36 (44.4%) from deep.

Including the 15 3FGs hit at Michigan, Wisconsin is now the only team in college basketball since at least 2004-05 to hit 15+ threes in multiple road games against top-10 opponents in the same season.

The Badgers are now 8-1 when shooting 40.0 percent or better from 3-point range.

Wisconsin grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, tied for the most allowed by Illinois all season. The 14 O-REB are UW's most against Illinois since pulling down 17 in a 57-43 win on 1/31/17.

Wrecking the ranked

Tuesday night, the Badgers notched their second top-10 road win of the season along with a 91-88 win at No. 2 Michigan on 1/10/26.

Wisconsin and Illinois (2) are the only schools with multiple top-10 road wins this season. UW is one of seven teams with multiple top-10 wins overall this season - no team has more.

Overall under Greg Gard, UW has now collected 17 wins over AP top-10 opponents, with seven of those coming in true road games. Those seven top-10 road wins are tied with Illinois for the most in the nation during the Gard era.

Against Illinois

UW improved to 92-118 all-time against Illinois and have won 17 of the last 26 meetings.

The Badgers are 29-71 in Champaign, claiming their first win at the State Farm Center since 1/23/19.

Wisconsin improved to 9-9 against Illinois under head coach Greg Gard.

Individual notes

Nick Boyd and John Blackwell became the first Big Ten duo to both score 20+ points in two top-10 road games since at least 2004-05 (also did so at MICH). Only nine other Big Ten duos have scored 20+ each in a top-10 road game since 2004-05.

Blackwell finished with 24 points, going 5-for-11 from 3-point range. He tallied his sixth game with at least five triples this season and has now scored in double figures in 10 straight games, the longest such streak of his career. He reached double digit points for the 19th time this season and 63rd time in his career.

Graduate student Nick Boyd tallied 25 points, including 19 in the second half and overtime. He also added five assists with 0 turnovers in 39 minutes of action.

Boyd is the only Badger since at least 2004-05 to tally at least 25 points, five assists and turnovers against a top-10 team on the road.

Boyd registered his 15th 20-point game of the season, which ranks second in the Big Ten (Northwestern's Nick Martinelli - 18).

Sophomore Austin Rapp finished with 18 points, going 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Rapp is averaging 18.5 ppg over his last 2 outings, going 9-for-14 from long range.

Rapp has scored in double figures nine times this season and 33 times in his career.

Nolan Winter totaled 11 rebounds to go with his four points. Winter posted his 13th game with double-digit rebounds this season and the 16th of his career.

- Notes provided by UW Athletic Communications

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Benjamin Worgull
BENJAMIN WORGULL

Benjamin Worgull has covered Wisconsin men's basketball since 2004, having previously written for Rivals, USA Today, 247sports, Fox Sports, the Associated Press, the Janesville Gazette, and the Wisconsin State Journal.

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