Wisconsin Badgers
USC
Five Things to Know: UW vs. USC
January 23, 2026 | Men's Basketball
Badgers seek sixth-straight win
MADISON, Wis. – Winners of five straight, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team returns to the Kohl Center on Sunday to open a three-game homestand against USC. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. and tickets are still available on UWBadgers.Com.
Sunday’s contest will be a White Out, with all fans in attendance encouraged to wear white.
Fans who can’t make it to the Kohl Center can watch the game live on Peacock, with Noah Reed and Robbie Hummel on the call. The game can also be heard on the Badger Radio Network, where Matt Lepay and Brian Butch will have the call
LAST TIME OUT
Behind separate 14-0 and 13-0 scoring runs in the opening half, the Badgers rolled past Penn State, 98-71, on Thursday night in University Park.
Five Badgers scored in double figures, led by Braeden Carrington, who poured in 17 points in the first half. John Blackwell added 17 points, while Nolan Winter posted 13 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Boyd chipped in 11 points and five rebounds, and Austin Rapp finished with 10 points.
Wisconsin matched season highs in assists (25) and three-pointers (15) while setting season bests in offensive rebounds (14), points in the paint (42) and fast-break points (19).
During its 5-game win streak, @BadgerMBB is averaging 88.6 ppg while shooting 41.0% (66-161) from long range and averaging 13.2 triples per game.
— UW Stats & Info (@UWStatsInfo) January 23, 2026
According to https://t.co/kTHNht2sCQ, Wisconsin is No. 1 in the nation in offensive efficiency over that span. pic.twitter.com/cEZ1nUxbw6
HIGH OCTANE BADGERS
Wisconsin’s 98-point performance marked just the sixth time in program history the Badgers have scored 98 or more points in a Big Ten road game.
The Badgers have now topped 90 points eight times this season — the most since the 1993-94 team also recorded eight 90-point games. Under head coach Greg Gard, Wisconsin is a perfect 22-0 when scoring 90 or more points.
During their five-game win streak, the Badgers have broken the 90-point mark three times. They boast the nation’s most efficient offense during the stretch with an Adjusted Offensive Efficiency of 135.3, according to Barttorvik.com
. Overall, their offense now ranks 28th in the country – it was ranked 71st before the streak (pre Jan. 6).
ROAD WARRIOR
Braeden Carrington has shined in Wisconsin’s last three road games, scoring in double figures in each while playing a key role in the victories.
Against No. 2 Michigan, Carrington posted 12 points and nine rebounds, going 9-for-12 from the free-throw line. In a homecoming game against Minnesota — his former team — the Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, native scored a career-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from three-point range. His seven made threes rank third in school history.
On Thursday at Penn State, Carrington scored 17 points in the first half on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. The guard also had 4 rebounds and was 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.
HOME, SWEET HOME
Wisconsin returns to the Kohl Center, where it is 10-1 this season and averaging 88.3 points per game.
The Badger backcourt duo of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell are each averaging over 18 points per game at home, with Boyd posting 19.9 points per game in Madison and Blackwell averaging 18.7. Nolan Winter is contributing 15.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game at the Kohl Center.
As a team, Wisconsin is shooting 47.7 percent from the field at home.
AGAINST THE TROJANS
UW welcomes USC to Madison for the first time since 1946, when Wisconsin won 61-56 on Dec. 23. Since then, the programs have only met four more times, with Bucky holding a 3-2 series advantage. The teams met on the Big Ten stage for the first time last season in Los Angeles as Wisconsin blew past the Trojans, 84-69. Blackwell had a game-high 28 points in the contest, while Winter added 13 and 5 rebounds.
USC comes into Sunday’s contest at 14-5 and 3-5 in the Big Ten. They’ve dropped its last two contests at the hands of No. 4 Purdue and Northwestern. Their top win comes out of conference play, when they took down a Quad I opponent in Seton Hall, 83-81, on Nov. 25. Chad Baker-Mazara leads the Trojans with 18.6 points per game, while Utah transfer Ezra Ausar has come on of late to average 16.2 points and 5.9 rebounds.
