All Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers look to continue dominance over undermanned Minnesota

Wisconsin goes for its 11th straight win over Minnesota tonight when the Badgers host the Gophers at the Kohl Center.
Benjamin Worgull|
Jan 13, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell (25) works around Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) during the second half at Williams Arena.
Jan 13, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell (25) works around Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) during the second half at Williams Arena. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

In this story:

Wisconsin Badgers

Continuing their final multi-game homestand of the season and looking to rebound from its first loss in three weeks, Wisconsin faces rival Minnesota tonight at the Kohl Center, looking to sweep the season series for the fourth straight time.

In honor of Coaches vs. Cancer "Suits and Sneakers," Greg Gard and his staff will be wearing special sneakers painted by patients at the American Family Children's Hospital on Wednesday and again on Saturday when the Badgers host Ohio State.

Here is a look at both teams and a prediction for tonight's contest.

Minnesota (10-10, 3-6 Big Ten) vs. Wisconsin (14-6, 6-3 Big Ten)

Date/Time – Wednesday, January 28, 8 p.m.
Arena – Kohl Center
TV – Big Ten Network (Jeff Levering and Shon Morris)
Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch)
Coaches - Greg Gard at Wisconsin (227-123 in his 11th season). Niko Medved (First season, 232-183 in his 12th overall season)
Series – Wisconsin leads 111-104, including 69-34 in Madison
Point Spread – Wisconsin -8.5

Wisconsin probable starters

2 Nick Boyd (6-3 Senior Guard, 19.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.6 apg)
7 Andrew Rohde (6-6 Senior Guard, 6.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.9 apg)
25 John Blackwell (6-4 Junior Guard, 18.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.2 apg)
31 Nolan Winter (6-11 Junior Forward, 14.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.7 apg)
32 Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-10 Freshman Forward, 4.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.7 apg)
Off the bench
0 Braeden Carrington (6-5 Senior Guard, 7.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.8 apg)
5 Jack Janicki (6-5 Sophomore Guard, 2.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.1 apg)
22 Austin Rapp (6-10 Sophomore Forward, 8.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.8 apg)
23 Will Garlock (7-0 Freshman Center, 1.2 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.0 apg)
Player to watch
In the first meeting between the two teams, Carrington had a career-high 21 points and a UW season-high seven three-pointers (third-most for a Badger in program history. He added five rebounds, two blocks and a steal off the bench against his former team.

Minnesota probable starters

1 Isaac Asuma (6-3 Sophomore Guard, 10.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.3 apg)
3 Bobby Durkin (6-7 Junior Forward, 8.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.8 apg)
5 Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (6-8 Junior Forward, 14.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.7 apg)
6 Langston Reynolds (6-9 Senior Guard, 10.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.2 apg)
*10 Cade Tyson (6-9 Senior Guard/Forward, 20.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.6 apg)
Off the bench
2 Grayson Grove (6-9 R-Freshman Forward/Center, 3.1 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.8 apg)
9 Kai Shinholster (6-5 Freshman Guard, 2.4 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.4 apg)
* - considered doubtful with an ankle injury
Player to watch
Crocker-Johnson had 12 points and eight rebounds last time out against Nebraska. It was his 18th double-digit point game, and ninth in conference play.

Series notes

UW has won 10 straight against Minnesota and 19 of the last 21 meetings.

UW has won 19 in a row when scoring at least 55 points vs. Minnesota. The Gophers have topped 70 points in just two of the last 21 meetings.

Wisconsin is 21-2 all-time against Minnesota at the Kohl Center, dating back to 1999.

Wisconsin is 15-2 overall against Minnesota under head coach Greg Gard.

The first 99 years of the rivalry may have belonged to Minnesota, but it has flipped dramatically since the turn of the century:
1900-1998: UW was 72-95 (43.1%)
1999-present: UW is 39-9 (81.3%)

UW's roster features four players from Minnesota: senior Braeden Carrington (Brooklyn Park), junior Nolan Winter (Lakeville), sophomores Jack Janicki (White Bear Lake), and Jack Robison (Lakeville).

Wisconsin has finished about Minnesota in the Big Ten standings for 27 consecutive seasons.

Wisconsin notes

UW is 10-2 at the Kohl Center this season and are 24-5 the last two seasons in Madison

The Badgers are converting 17.2 free throws per game, which would be the best mark since UW averaged 17.8 free throws per game during the 1971-72 season.

The Badgers are averaging 83.6 points per game and have scored 80+ points in 13 of their 20 games this year. That would be the third-best in UW history.

The Badgers rank 13th in the country in attempted 3-pointers, averaging 31.4 attempts per game. That mark leads the Big Ten Conference.

Minnesota notes

On assist percentage for the season, the Gophers currently lead the entire nation at 74.5 percent. Minnesota had 20 assists on 27 made field goals against Wisconsin earlier this month.

As a team, the Gophers hold the fifth-best scoring defense in the league (68.5 points) and 53rd nationally. They also rank fourth in steals per game (6.9).

Cade Tyson has reached double-figures in all 20 games this season. He ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring with 20.1 points, and 34th nationally. His 401 points rank second in the B1G and 28th nationally.

Minnesota had two players remain with the team from the 2024-25 team in Isaac Asuma and Grayson Grove. Asuma saw significant time as a freshman last year when he averaged 24.7 minutes and averaged 5.6 points as a rookie. Grove redshirted the 2024-25 season.

Prediction

Times have drastically changed over the last two weeks for the Gophers.

Winners of six of their previous eight, which included two ranked home wins and a one-point home loss to USC, the Gophers shot 51.9 percent from the floor and had just hit a tying three-pointer in the closing seconds, holding momentum and poised to force overtime against their border rival. Instead, Blackwell's three pointer at the buzzer sent off a wild Wisconsin celebration and extended Minnesota's Badger misery to a 10th straight loss.

The Gophers have been stuck in reverse since, in the midst of five straight losses with the first four coming by 10 points or less. The Gophers are now heading into the midpoint of the season drastically undermanned.

Minnesota was already playing with an eight-man rotation due to being without four scholarship players, including starting point guard Chansey Willis Jr. (foot) and starting forward Robert Vailhola (knee) out for the season. After injuring his ankle in the second half of a 19-point home loss to Nebraska, starting guard Cade Tyson has been ruled "probably doubtful" for tonight, with his head coach telling the Pioneer Press that "I don't think it's probably going to happen" that Tyson will play.

Tyson is third in the Big Ten at 20.1 points per game and averages a team-high 35.9 minutes per game. After freshmen reserves Grayson Grove and Kai Shinholster, Minnesota doesn't have another reserve who is averaging over six minutes per game.

“We are running on fumes,” Medved told the paper. “We will have to look at some different lineups and things like that. … Could we get some minutes potentially out of Max Gizzi and Nehemiah (Turner)? Some of those could be on the table, depending on matchups and where we are at in the game.”

The likely absence of Tyson will force Durkin and Crocker-Johnson to be more impactful. Durkin had a season high in both field goal attempts (13) and 3-point attempts (8) against Nebraska on Saturday, and Crocker-Johnson is averaging 20 points over his last four games.

For as good as Wisconsin's offense has been this season, the Badgers didn't make anything in crunch time Sunday. UW was 4-for-19 on threes, 5-for-16 on two-point attempts and 3-for-10 on layups in the second half, leading to a season-worst 34.3 shooting.

Wisconsin attempted only 22 two-point shots in the first meeting against the Gophers against Minnesota, its lowest against a power-conference opponent this season and went 8-for-13 on layups. UW needs to do a better job generating more consistent offense in the paint.

Don't be surprised if that happens tonight against an undermanned Gophers squad.

Prediction: Wisconsin by 18
Worgull's Prediction: 16-4 (11-9 ATS)
Points off Prediction: 215 (10.8 ppg)

More Wisconsin Badgers News:

Published
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.

Share on XFollow TheBadgerNation
Home/Basketball