The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s men’s basketball team wrapped up the exhibition portion of its schedule with a 69-53 win over Division III University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Wednesday at the Kohl Center.
Badgers head coach Greg Gard got the last laugh in the head-to-head matchup with his younger brother Jeff Gard, who is the head coach of the Pioneers, but it was UW-Platteville which threw the first punch.
After making their first three attempts from the field, the Pioneers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. Wisconsin responded quickly thanks to back-to-back triples from sophomore Austin Rapp, but the initial burst from UW-Platteville was a sign that this game would be closer than the Badgers wanted.
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While UW-Platteville doesn’t stack up with Wisconsin’s other exhibition opponent, Oklahoma, physically, the game still provided the coaching staff with a chance to evaluate the team ahead of the season.
“Every possession matters, no matter who you’re playing, no matter what the score is,” Gard said. “Play the game the right way and you’ll develop good habits. And then down the road, hopefully those habits come back and help us.”
Unfortunately for Gard, his group played a fairly sloppy game and likely didn’t build the good habits he referred to postgame.
Even with UW-Platteville’s tallest player being listed at just six-foot-eight, the Pioneers outrebounded the Badgers in the first half, including six offensive rebounds. Wisconsin had a clear size advantage but didn’t capitalize early.
Between UW-Platteville mixing in a few possessions of zone defense and some uncharacteristic turnovers, Wisconsin’s offense struggled mightily in the first half.
In a back-and-forth affair, it wasn’t until about the six-minute mark that junior John Blackwell finally got in the scoring column, hitting a 3-pointer to tie the game at 19. The shot ignited a Wisconsin run to close the half, capped by a steal and score at the buzzer from senior Andrew Rohde to extend the lead to 31-22.
Junior Nolan Winter led all scorers with nine points at the half, but even he struggled, missing a pair of free throws. The Badgers missed all five of their free-throw attempts in the first half.
The shooting woes were plenty in the first half, but the ball movement was noteworthy — perhaps one thing Wisconsin can take away from a half they would like to forget.
“When we get the ball moving like that, side to side, we’re really hard to guard,” Rohde said. “That was one of the things we focused on this week. If we’re moving the ball, touching the paint, driving and kicking and getting open shots, we live with those [results].”
To open the second half, it was clear Wisconsin wanted to get inside and impose its size on the Pioneers. With two finishes at the rim from Winter and senior Nick Boyd ending the free-throw drought by splitting a pair, the Badgers extended their lead to 36-22 in the opening minutes of the half.
It looked like Wisconsin was finally putting away an inferior opponent, but UW-Platteville hung around and kept clawing at the deficit.
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With about 15 minutes remaining, UW-Platteville guard Bristol Lewis hit a 3-pointer to cap an 8-0 run, cutting Wisconsin’s lead to six. A few minutes later, still down six, Lewis scored on a floater before Max Love stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and scored to make it 47-45.
Boyd stopped the bleeding for the Badgers, drawing a foul and making both free throws — something Wisconsin didn’t do often on the night. The team shot a brutal 9-for-19 from the free-throw line.
Despite a rough night at the free-throw line, the Badgers eventually found their footing defensively and did enough on offense to put the game out of reach. After UW-Platteville’s surge to draw within two, the Badgers built a 16-point lead to make it 61-45.
In the closing minutes, Winter scored on a putback to add to his game-high total, finishing with 17 points and 15 rebounds. After the game, he expressed confidence in his team despite the rocky performance.
“It’s brick by brick every day, get a little bit better at certain spots, and I like this spot a lot,” Winter said. “We’ve got a lot of firepower. Obviously tonight we didn’t shoot it as well as I know that we can, but moving forward, I know what we’re capable of and I think we’ll be a lot of fun to watch.”
Up next for the Badgers is a matchup with the Campbell Fighting Camels in their first official game of the 2025-26 season. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at the Kohl Center, with streaming on B1G+.