'Today stinks' for Nick Boyd and Wisconsin basketball
Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard put the emotions bluntly after a loss that was as frustrating as it was predictable
Analysts and opposing coaches were crowning Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, one of only three high-major pairings both scoring over 20.0 points per game, as the best backcourt duo in the country. Nolan Winter, who was shooting nearly 70% from inside the arc, returned from a late-season lower-body injury. National analysts, impressed by an electrifying run in the Big Ten Tournament, heralded the Wisconsin Badgers as a dark-horse Final Four contender from the five-line.
The makings of a deep March Madness run, one that would finally get the monkey in the size and shape of seven Sweet Sixteen-less seasons off head coach Greg Gard’s back, were right there.
It never materialized.
Wisconsin men’s basketball opened the 2026 NCAA Tournament in style, building a ten-point lead over the No. 12 High Point Panthers before the first media timeout. Before halftime, however, HPU knotted the game at 39.
After that, UW never again built a double-digit lead. The Panthers hung around long enough to almost predictably, certainly painfully, deliver a final blow to the Badgers in the closing seconds for an 83-82 victory.
It was the first great upset of March Madness; a result that, because everyone outside of Madison can enjoy it, makes it sting that much more on the isthmus.
“Today sucks. Today stinks,” Gard said in a post-game press conference.
Wisconsin basketball painfully, predictably, loses to High Point
I would not have predicted that Wisconsin would lose to High Point. The formula for how Wisconsin would lose to High Point, however, was plainly apparent: the Panthers force a slew of turnovers, crash the offensive glass, and get out behind the Badgers’ transition defense.
Well, two out of three ain’t bad.
Wisconsin only turned the ball over nine times, right on par with its 8.9 per game average against a defense that boasts the fifth-highest turnover rate forced in the country.
That was the only silver lining. High Point dominated the rebounding battle, coming down with the 13 offensive boards despite a significant size disadvantage. No Panther that appeared in the matchup measures in at over 6-foot-10. No Panther that played double-digit minutes measures in at over 6-foot-8.
Not once in the regular season did Wisconsin surrender more than 12 offensive rebounds.
In transition, the Badgers were outplayed until the very end. Despite having already surrendered 14 fastbreak points. After a missed layup by Boyd, UW allowed HPU sixth-year senior guard Chase Johnston to race behind the defense and make a wide-open layup, delivering the final 83-82 margin with merely 11 seconds remaining.
Wisconsin allowed the Panthers, which rank third nationally in fastbreak points, scoring 18.88 per contest, to do what they do best when it mattered most.
Arguably, Johnston was the one unexpected x-factor, because he made his only two-point basket of the season on that game-deciding play after the 48.5% three-point shooter had (as could be expected) connected on four of six attempts from beyond the arc.
“I mean, we’ve seen Johnston make some circus ones today off one leg,” Gard said. “It’s exactly what I saw on film. His ability to shoot the ball and get it off quick.”
Gard was correct to say in his post-game press conference that High Point “played a terrific game. Hit some unbelievable shots.” But HPU beat UW in exactly the fashion that anyone, especially a Big Ten men’s basketball team, should have seen coming and been more than adequately prepared to prevent.
The downright predictable formula with which High Point cooked up this upset makes it all the more frustrating.
More heartbreak for Nick Boyd, but he is usual optimistic self
If there is one player I hate this result for more than anyone, it is Boyd. His tenacity made an undeniable mark during his lone season in Madison. In a way, he was the perfect point guard for this new-look Wisconsin offense. His willingness to push the pace, bring an on-court attitude, and ability to single-handedly take over a game when needed paired talent with the newfound flair to Wisconsin basketball.
The All-Big Ten honoree’s 20-second-half points were nearly enough, but instead, it was yet another March Madness heartbreaker for Boyd.
Since reaching the Final Four with the Florida Atlantic Owls in 2023, the Garnerville, New York native has endured nothing but pain in the tournament. That 2023 run ended when San Diego State Aztecs guard Lamont Butler hit a buzzer-beater over Boyd in the national semifinal. In 2024, Northwestern Wildcats guard Brooks Barnhizer scored with under 10 seconds remaining in regulation, forcing overtime to defeat the Owls in the Round of 64.
After Boyd transferred to San Diego State, his Aztecs lost in the First Four to a North Carolina Tar Heels team that arguably should not have even been in the field after UNC went 1-12 in Quad 1 opportunities before Selection Sunday.
Add this most recent upset, including Boyd’s final collegiate shot (and Wisconsin’s last of the season) being blocked to the list.
Believe it or not, heartbreak is not how Boyd remembers those tournaments. He is “just grateful for every moment.”
It is that gratitude, that attitude, Boyd’s actions that have made his words more than platitudes, that should make him one of the most memorable one-year Wisconsin Badgers ever, and one that certainly deserved a better ending than this.
“I’m a little different,” Boyd added. “I’m high energy, I’m competitive. Sometimes I can be a lot to accept. These guys opened they arms and allowed me to be myself. Changed my life forever as I go on my next journey, wherever it’s at.”
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