Nick Boyd, Wisconsin basketball 'find other ways to score'
Wisconsin men's basketball extended a best-in-the-B1G streak with an 80-60 win over the Milwaukee Panthers
Madison, WI — Well-rounded scoring and improved defensive effort helped Wisconsin basketball finish non-conference play on a high note. With nine Badgers scoring at least five points, Wisconsin earned an 80-60 victory over the Milwaukee Panthers on Tuesday night inside the Kohl Center.
On a night where Wisconsin Badgers (9-4, 1-1 Big Ten) points came with fits and starts, UW head coach Greg Gard’s defense shone from start to finish. Milwaukee’s 60 points were its second-lowest scoring output of the season, and Wisconsin’s second-fewest points allowed. The Panthers’ 21 first-half points tied the Badgers’ fewest allowed points in a single half this season.
“Collectively, we’ve taken a more consistent step forward to being the type of defensive team we have to be,” Gard said. “We’re not there yet, but we’re better than we were maybe 30 days ago.”
Wisconsin, with the 44th-ranked defense in the country by KenPom’s adjusted efficiency ranking, is on the upswing in the defensive metrics. Previously, it had been trending toward UW’s worst unit since 2017-18. That season remains the Badgers’ only sub-.500 finish since 1997-98.
“I was glad that we came out guarding, being active on defense, and communicating as well,” Wisconsin’s Nick Boyd added.
Milwaukee made only 33.3% (21-63) of its attempts from the field and 13.6% (3-22) of its attempted threes. Both marks are the lowest UW has allowed this season.
The victory extended the Badgers’ winning streak in non-conference matchups at home to 19 games. That mark is tied with the Indiana Hoosiers and Oregon Ducks for the longest-active such streak in the Big Ten and is the fifth-longest in UW program history.
With Boyd leading the way, the streak-continuing win came against an in-state opponent that left Gard impressed.
“Bart [Lundy]’s got them playing hard, and they’ve got some talent. They’ll be good in that league,” the Badgers’ head coach said of his counterpart leading the Panthers. Milwaukee entered this season as the favorite to win the Horizon League championship.
Nick Boyd presents matchup nightmare for Milwaukee
While the Badgers were well-balanced offensively, it was Boyd who carried the load. In limited action due to foul trouble, the senior scored a team-high 16 points in just under 22 minutes, shooting a perfect 4-4 from the field in the second half.
Milwaukee, playing on back-to-back nights, lacked answers defensively for the speedy guard. Boyd scored four fast-break points against the Panthers.
“When we got down there in the second half we tried to face guard him a little bit and if this was a different team with a different guard, we would have trapped and scrambled their eggs a little bit,” Milwaukee head coach Bart Lundy said of the unique challenge of guarding Boyd.
“I just didn’t feel like with his speed — I mean, that’s how much respect I have for his speed,” added Lundy. “We’re pretty good at coming back from deficits and we can trap you, turn you over and make you play faster than you want. I just thought there’s no way we can get him in a trap and it’d be effective.”
Boyd’s performance was marred by only a pair of turnovers, including one bad pass that temporarily sent the New York native to the bench. That mishap did not faze the veteran.
“Obviously when he came back in the second half after I pulled him on the turnover, I mean, he was dynamite,” Gard said of Boyd’s ensuing 12 points and two assists in 5:09 of gametime. “He just blew the game open.”
As a team, Wisconsin shot 59.3% from the field on 27 attempts in the second half.
“When [the Badgers] get a lead, it’s going to be difficult for other teams to come back,” Lundy said. “Because you can’t, you know, speeding [Boyd] up is probably a bad idea.”
Boyd has scored in double figures in each of Wisconsin’s 13 games this season. His 19.2 points per game are the sixth-most among all Big Ten players.
Wisconsin basketball ‘able to find other ways to score’
UW’s most noticeable box score blemish was its three-point shooting. The Badgers made only four of 22 attempts from beyond the arc. Wisconsin’s previous season-low for made threes was seven against BYU, TCU, and Nebraska.
The difference between those games for the Badgers and the matchup with Milwaukee, however, was the outcome. Four made threes is Wisconsin’s fewest in a win since a 74-70 victory over the Maryland Terrapins in February of 2024.
“Obviously you always want to shoot it better, but to be able to find other ways to score when you’re not raining threes is a good sign,” Gard said.
Even freshman Zach Kinziger, who played 18 minutes in his second-ever appearance for UW, was not spared from the shooting woes. The De Pere native missed all three of his attempts from deep.
“Games like these are bound to happen to any shooter, no matter what level you play at,” Kinziger said. “I know one thing is, I’m gonna keep shooting the ball whenever I get the looks.”
The former consensus four-star recruit shot 36.2% on over 200 three-point attempts his senior year of high school.
Despite struggling beyond the perimeter, Wisconsin dominated inside. It tied a season-high with 46 points in the paint, as junior forward Nolan Winter returned to the lineup after suffering a lower-body injury against the Central Michigan Chippewas.
With Winter and preseason all-Big Ten honoree unavailable by the end of that matchup against CMU, both of their statuses were seemingly up in the air leading up to Tuesday’s matchup. Winter was listed as questionable on the pregame injury report, but he and Blackwell were both able to play.
Their return “means everything to this team,” noted freshman forward Will Garlock.
“Obviously we play an assortment of bigs, but I think Nolan especially, he can kind of do it all,” Garlock added. “Shoot it, put it on the floor when he needs to, and then also on the defensive end.”
Winter scored 14 points and corralled seven rebounds in 21 minutes. He has contributed double-digit scoring in each of UW’s past six games.
“Nolan to gut through, I know the ankle doesn’t feel the best, but he was able to get through, gut it out and do some good things,” Gard said.
Up next for Wisconsin basketball
The Badgers now turn their sole focus to Big Ten conference play and the second half of a four-game homestand. Wisconsin hosts the No. 5 Purdue Boilermakers inside the Kohl Center this Saturday, January 3rd. Tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central.
UW will then host the UCLA Bruins on Tuesday, January 6th, before embarking on a two-game road trip to face the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines and Minnesota Golden Gophers.
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