Badgers End Non-Conference Play With 80-60 Win Over Milwaukee
The Wisconsin Badgers picked up a win in their final non-conference game of the 2025-26 regular season, defeating UW-Milwaukee 80-60 at home on Tuesday. Greg Gard and company will move to 9-4 on the season before resuming Big Ten play.
With the Panthers’ star player, Seth Hubbard, sidelined due to a shoulder injury, Wisconsin came away with the victory comfortably, but there was a lot to take away from the win.
A Strange First Half Saw Wisconsin Go Up Early
It was clear from the jump that Milwaukee was feeling the fatigue from a back-to-back set, having played on Monday. The Badgers opened the game with an 18-2 run, but it was more of the Panthers looking offensively challenged. They shot 7.1% from three in the first half.
But after the road team scored its second basket with 10:46 to go in the period, they managed to keep up. The half would finish with a 19-19 run to make it 37-21 at the break. The pace was extremely slow, as the Badgers could only muster up nine fastbreak points on 25 Milwaukee misses and six turnovers.
Offensively for Wisconsin, the scoring distribution was even through the first 20 minutes. Like last game, the bench got involved, with Hayden Jones, Will Garlock, Jack Janicki and Austin Rapp combining for 15 points.
One thing the Badgers did really well in the first half was get to the basket. Whether it be drawing contact or layups at the rim, it certainly made up for their 14.3% shooting from deep. Wisconsin managed to shoot 15 free throws and get 20 paint points, most of that coming from Rapp, Nolan Winter and even Nick Boyd, despite being a point guard.
First-Half Insurance Helped the Badgers
After a first half that saw Wisconsin record just four turnovers, the opening minutes of the second half were extremely sloppy. The Badgers committed two turnovers and were outscored 9-4 in the first four minutes, giving up a 9-0 run before a John Blackwell jumper calmed things down a bit.
From there, the game would be relatively even. Wisconsin shot 16-for-27 from the field in the second half for 43 points. They went against their trend of taking threes, going just 2-for-8 in 20 minutes. The goal of getting to the free-throw line would remain true, but the Badgers only hit 9 of 17 attempts.
Boyd would get it going and lead the team in the second half with 12 points in 11 minutes, finishing with 16. Winter followed with 14 points and seven rebounds, while the bench combined for an impressive 31 points.
As for Milwaukee, they went against their own trend of taking care of the ball, recording nine turnovers in the second half. The Panthers also shot 2-for-8 from three and failed to record a single fastbreak point in 20 minutes.
Josh Dixon led the way with 15 of his 17 points coming in the second half, while Amar Augillard had a unique night with 15 points and five rebounds, but also an absurd seven turnovers. He nearly matched the Badgers’ game total of nine.
Wisconsin will begin Big Ten play with a home matchup against Braden Smith and No. 5 Purdue on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.
