5 thoughts on Wisconsin basketball's road win at Washington
Another 'UW Bowl' goes to the Badgers.
Braeden Carrington continued to show why he was the underrated transfer pickup for the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team from the offseason.
Carrington came off the bench and drilled a school-record nine 3-pointers on way to a career-high 32 points during Wisconsin’s 90-73 win over Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle. The key reserve finished 9-of-15 shooting, made all five free throw attempts and also contributed four rebounds and three assists.
He scored 23 of those points in the second half, including draining three 3-pointers in under a minute towards the end of the contest to cap off one of the best individual performances of the season for Wisconsin (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten).
It also was the seventh game this season that Carrington reached double figures in scoring, and it’s the third contest where he’s scored at least 20 points for the Badgers.
Let’s get to more breakdown of the game with four other thoughts.
Washington also had no answer for Nick Boyd
Nick Boyd didn’t hit a 3-pointer Saturday in Seattle, but once again, his attacking prowess propelled the Wisconsin offense.
Boyd missed all three of his field goal attempts from deep, but he got to the rim and made 11 of 20 from 2-point range. The transfer provided another great all-around spectacle with 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists and only one turnover.
And it was a nice bounce back from his outing at Oregon where he only was 4 of 12 from the field.
He still hasn’t scored below 10 points in a game. and it’s the 18th time this season that he’s reached the 20-point mark for the Badgers.
The Badgers’ 3-point shooting came alive in the second half
It wasn’t a school-record 45 attempts from beyond the arc as seen in the road loss at Oregon on Wednesday evening, but Carrington led the way from deep for Wisconsin against Washington (14-15, 6-12). The Badgers made 17 of 38 (44.7%) 3-point attempts Saturday, greatly aided by a final 20 minutes where the team connected on 11-of-19 (57.9%) shots.
Junior forward Nolan Winter, who was one rebound away from what would have been his 13th double-double of the season, was 3 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 13 points. All six points from freshman forward Aleksas Bieliauskas came from his two 3-point attempts.
The Badgers’ first-half defense tamed the Huskies
Washington made 46% of its field goal attempts (29 of 63) Saturday, mostly thanks to a resurgent 62.9% in the second half, but Wisconsin allowed only 21 points in the first half. The Huskies shot 25% (7 of 28 shots) during those first 20 minutes which dug them into a 15-point deficit entering halftime.
Only two players, forward Hannes Steinbach (22) and guard Zoom Diallo (21), scored in double figures for Washington. They combined to make 17 of 26 (65.4%) field goal attempts in the loss, while the rest of the team was 12 of 37 (32.4%).
The Huskies only hit on 4 of 18 (22.2%) from 3-point range Saturday.
Wisconsin continues to dish the ball well this season
The Badgers had 16 assists Saturday, and they’re currently at 459 for the season in 29 games (over 15.8 assists per game). The single-season program record is 537 by the 2024-25 squad that played in 37 contests last season (14.5 assists per contest).
Wisconsin has two games to play next week with Maryland at the Kohl Center on Wednesday and the regular-season finale at Purdue on Saturday. There’s also at least one guaranteed Big Ten Tournament contest (potentially more if Wisconsin advances), and you can assume one NCAA Tournament game at this point.
The Badgers would need to average 19.5 assists during those four games to tie last year’s mark (if they only play those quartet of contests the rest of the season). Badger Observer has reached out to a Wisconsin spokesperson regarding the single-season program record for team assists per game.