Wisconsin Gets a Second Crack at BYU in Friday's Rematch

MADISON, Wis. — At Big Ten media day, John Blackwell said he had “unfinished business.” Among the things on his mind to accomplish during his junior season, Blackwell wants to atone for Wisconsin’s early exit in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

To some degree, that opportunity presents itself on Friday.

The 23rd-ranked Badgers (4-0) will get a second crack at the team that ended their season in March, taking on No. 9 BYU (3-1) for a non-conference showdown in Salt Lake City.

“I’d be lying if I said we weren’t looking forward to that game,” Blackwell said in Chicago. “We’re definitely looking forward to it. We’ve got a lot of basketball ahead of us. We’ve got a lot more preparing to do. That was a sour taste in my mouth from last year. I’m ready for that game.”

The Cougars held on for a 91-89 victory in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 matchup. It took the Badgers roughly 30 minutes before they were able to find some footing. Despite scoring 53 second-half points, UW couldn’t overcome a 14-point deficit as BYU shot 49 percent from the field, including a blistering 46 percent from 3-point range.

“Understanding the pace that’s going to come at us,” said UW head coach Greg Gard, who is in his 11th season at the helm. “That’s the one thing — it did take us a while before we got our feet underneath us. I think understanding what we’re going into, what that’s going to feel like. We tried to replicate that in practice here today. We’ll do the same thing tomorrow.

“Transition defense is vital. Stopping the ball is vital. Finding shooters in transition is vital. Being able to build a wall — I didn’t just start talking about that today. Hopefully, all our lessons and our work and our emphasis on the defensive end can help us. When you see a team like this, you don’t have to introduce something new.

“It’ll be a challenge unlike anything we’ve seen to this point.”

Wisconsin had its hands full in Denver with the likes of Egor Denim and Trevin Knell, who have since moved on. However, this BYU team might be an even bigger challenge than the one that made the Sweet 16. The Cougars bring back starters Richie Saunders, who scored a team-high 25 points in that one, and Keba Keita.

Oh yeah, and there’s the addition of freshman A.J. Dybantsa, who very well could be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Already off to a great start in his career, Dybantsa is one of four players in Big 12 history to average at least 20.0 points and 50.0 percent from the field through the first four college games.

“He’s a 6-8, 6-9 point guard that’s extremely talented,” said Gard. “You hear all the comparisons. Is he Kevin Garnett? Is he Kevin Durant? He’s really, really talented at the game of basketball…and he’s big. He can bring it in transition, he can play multiple positions, long, active. Just a really good player.

“Probably why he’ll get drafted really high.”

BYU also picked up Robert Wright III (Baylor) and Kennard Davis (Southern Illinois) out of the transfer portal.

“I think there’s some similarities from last year’s team with the physicality that they play with, the aggressiveness, just the pace that they play at,” said junior forward Nolan Winter. “We’re gonna have to match all of that with them. We know that they’re gonna bring it. Obviously, they got talent in the back court and the front court.

“It’s gonna be a good test for us, a good little barometer to see where we’re at.”

While Wisconsin has opened up four mid-major opponents, BYU has already been tested. The Cougars defeated Villanova in the season-opener and nearly pulled off a second-half rally to upset UConn on Saturday.

“A little different in terms of how their backcourt makeup is,” said Gard. “Saunders does what he does. Baker (Dawson Baker) does what he does. Keita is still a handful inside and on the glass. So, they still bring a lot of the same issues in terms of how fast they come in transition. A few of those guys really shoot the ball, and then Wright puts a ton of pressure on the rim, attacks, and breaks defenses.”

“So, it’s a really good team. They have a lot of good pieces.”

Wisconsin will be breaking in three new starters, senior guards Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde, as well as sophomore forward Austin Rapp. The Badgers will also roll out at least three reserves who weren’t with the program during last season’s meeting. So, while those six may not have the same chip on their shoulder now, the returnees are aiming to put it there anyway.

“It’s on us to really show the new guys kind of what this game means to us,” Winter explained. “Obviously, cut our season short last year, thinking that we can make a good run. For us to kind of show that and exemplify it to the younger guys and the new guys, it’s an important game to us for us returners, and we’re going to make sure that the new guys know that as well.”

Friday is the beginning of a massive stretch of games for Wisconsin. After BYU, the Badgers will head to San Diego for a pair of games against Providence and either Florida or TCU. Big Ten Conference play begins Dec. 3, and sandwiched in between are non-conference tests versus Villanova and Marquette.

Aiming for a 16th win over a top 10 opponent under Gard, UW hasn’t focused too much on last season’s affair. In fact, there’s at least one player who doesn’t even want to, and probably doesn’t need to, go down that road.

“I haven’t watched that game since,” said Winter. “We remember that taste in our mouth in the locker room after.”