Wisconsin Badgers upgrade Nolan Winter's injury status prior to Big Ten Tournament semifinals against Michigan

CHICAGO - The University of Wisconsin beat the tallest team in the nation without their star center. Now with the best defensive team in the country up next, the Badgers might get Nolan Winter back into the fold.

After missing the last three games with a left ankle injury, Winter was upgraded to questionable prior to No.23 Wisconsin's Big Ten Tournament semifinals matchup with No.3 Michigan this afternoon at the United Center (12 p.m./CBS).

Wisconsin (24-9) has won three games without Winter, all coming on the road and two against top-15 opponents. The Badgers struggled rebounding in two games without their 7-foot center but delivered a sound performance on the boards in Friday's 91-88 overtime victory over No.9 Illinois.

Preview: Ohio State showed the blueprint of how to slow Michigan's offense, but the Buckeyes couldn't sustain it. Can the #Badgers make some shots and slow Michigan's pick-and-roll game in this afternoon's conference tournament semifinals? https://t.co/9YkR4vcbx8
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) March 14, 2026

The Illini ranked third nationally in offensive rebound percentage (39.1), but Wisconsin outrebounded Illinois, 37-36, and had an 11-9 advantage on the offensive glass. Wisconsin held Illinois without an offensive rebound in the final 16:30 and only five rebounds once the Badgers went down 15 in regulation.

UW had 12 boards and two offensive rebounds over that same stretch, including a big cleanup of a Boyd missed three by Blackwell with 52 seconds left. That rebound got Blackwell to the foul line, where he made both free throws that eventually forced overtime.

Wisconsin led wire-to-wire in overtime, thanks in part to being plus-2 on the boards.

"There's a point of (rebounding that's physical in terms of size and those things, but I felt a lot of rebounding is what's underneath your hood, meaning inside of you, and your grit and your toughness," head coach Greg Gard said. "You can rebound against size if you continue to have the fight to you and some toughness."

Winter had started 68 consecutive games for the Badgers with 104 consecutive appearances before Sunday. He is nearing the end of his best collegiate season, averaging 13.3 points and a team-best 8.6 rebounds.

He ranks second in the Big Ten with 12 double-doubles this season, only the third Badger since 2000 to reach at least 10 double-doubles in a single season, and second in the conference with 14 double-digit rebounding games (trailing Washington's Hannes Steinbach in both categories).

Winter was instrumental defensively in Wisconsin's 91-88 victory at Michigan in January, being a part of a defensive effort that held Michigan center Aday Mara to only nine points and six rebounds.