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Quick hits: Wisconsin's leaky defense costly in exhibition loss to Oklahoma

Benjamin Worgull|
Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell attempts a shot with Oklahoma Sooners forward Derrion Reid defending during exhibition play at Fiserv Forum on October 24, 2025
Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell attempts a shot with Oklahoma Sooners forward Derrion Reid defending during exhibition play at Fiserv Forum on October 24, 2025 | UW Athletics

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Wisconsin Badgers

MILWAUKEE - For as much hype and praise his offense received last season, one of the biggest bugaboos for head coach Greg Gard was that the University of Wisconsin never became a stalwart defensive team.

With the season opener 10 days away, the lock-down end of floor is still very much a work in progress.

Wisconsin had some bright spots offensively but struggled to string together defensive stops in an 84-83 defeat to Oklahoma in exhibition play at Fiserv Forum on Friday night.

A remade roster with five new starters, the Sooners shot 51.8 percent and averaged 1.183 points per possession, getting 18 points from Xzayvier Brown and a clutch pull-up jumper from Nijil Pack with 14.6 seconds left to extend the lead to 82-78.

In reality, Oklahoma took control of the game when it scored 15 points in the final 2:54 of the first half.

John Blackwell scored 20 points for Wisconsin, while newcomers Nick Boyd (19), and Austin Rapp (17) also produced. However, the Badgers saw their 51-game exhibition winning streak end, a run of meaningless success that dates back to a 1992 loss to the Russian National Team, because the defense was a step slow the entire night. The Badgers pieced together five consecutive stops late in the second half, part of a 9-0 run that tied the game at 66 with 7:55 remaining.

The pendulum swung back. The Sooners scored on five of their next six possessions, including senior guard Jeff Nwankwo picking off a pass from Aleksas Bieliauskas and registering an uncontested dunk to finish the possession, putting the visitors up, 76-70, with 3:48 remaining.

UW's last gasp came when the Badgers forced turnovers on three consecutive possessions and Rapp tied the game at 78 with a three-pointer with 1:10 remaining.

However, UW couldn't secure the offensive rebound on the next season and a bad pass from Nolan Winter set up Pack's jumper. The Badgers were in chase mode for the rest of the night.

Transfers Boyd (San Diego State), Rapp (Portland), and Andrew Rohde (Virginia) joined entrenched starters Blackwell and Winter in the starting lineup, but the group didn't play for long before substitution patterns started.

Bieliauskas was the first forward off the bench, sophomore Jack Janicki the first guard and a total of 10 players had logged multiple minutes during the game's opening 10 minutes.

The amount of substitutions led to some uneven offense (39.5 percent shooting) and a lot of leaky defense against the Sooners (63.0 percent). Even with the assignment miscues, Wisconsin still forced 16 turnovers that led to 21 points

What it means: Gard is going to have plenty of clips on the defensive end he needs to highlight with his team, which is only going to be successful if it cleans up its defense. However, the Badgers certainly got more out of their first exhibition game than in year's past, when Wisconsin would spend an evening beating up on a WIAC school.

Star of the game: Rapp led the country in three-pointers made by a player at least 6-9 (2.7 per game), the sophomore forward was more impressive with his ability to play in the low post, put the ball on the floor on drives to the rim and work through contact.

Stat of the game: After scoring 24 points in the paint in the first half, Wisconsin was limited to only 12 in the lane in the second half.

Reason to be Concerned: Senior transfer Elijah Gray didn't travel with Wisconsin to Milwaukee and has missed both exhibition/scrimmage games this week. The Badgers have inexperience with their frontcourt depth on the bench and having a player with the experience of 86 games played will be important for UW moving forward.

Don’t overlook: Wisconsin played a total of 10 guys, but the five reserves produced 12 points, including six from Bieliauskas.

What’s next: Wisconsin will close the exhibition portion of the schedule when it hosts UW-Platteville in the annual Garding Against Cancer game at the Kohl Center on Wednesday. UW is 3-0 against the Pioneers with an average margin of victory of 30.3 points. Tip is set for 7 p.m. on BTN+.

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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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