Wisconsin Badgers
Maryland
Badgers cruise past Maryland on senior night
March 04, 2026 | Men's Basketball
Four Badgers score in double figures
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's basketball team cruised past Maryland, 78-45, on senior night, closing out its regular-season home slate on Wednesday at the Kohl Center.
Fresh off his record-setting game on Saturday, Braeden Carrington led the Badgers again with 18 points on four three-pointers. John Blackwell added 14, going an efficient 6-of-9 from the field, while Austin Rapp had 11. Nick Boyd contributed 13 points of his own, extending his double-digit scoring streak across every game this year. He had four rebounds and three assists, as well.Â
A defensive start saw UW swing out to a 6-2 lead thanks to two early buckets from Blackwell. The sides traded baskets before UW broke away off of five straight points from Carrington. They ballooned the lead to double digits, ripping off a 9-2 run with 2 minutes remaining. Carrington connected again from deep, nailing back-to-back treys to finish the half with 13 points. The Badgers made four of their last five shots, taking a 34-21 lead into the locker room. They yielded zero turnovers in the period, the first time doing so this year.Â
Bucky kept the energy up out of the break, racing out to a 11-0 run capped off by a Blackwell triple. The Badgers didn't look back from there as Rapp connected on three-straight treys to increase the lead to 20. They kept pouring it in with another 10-0 spurt, spearheaded by an athletic Winter putback at the rim. UW coasted for the rest of the contest. Isaac Gard checked in for his final game at the Kohl Center, and drained a three-pointer from the logo to close the contest.
Up Next: The Badgers conclude the regular season at No. 15 Purdue on Saturday at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. UW will look to upend the Boilermakers for the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament next week. Purdue (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten) is on a two game slide, but will try to get back in the win column Wednesday night against Northwestern.
Head Coach Greg Gard
On the win
"It was an emotional night and emotional day. I'm really proud of the three seniors that played, and obviously the fourth one there at the end with my son. From a team standpoint, we did a lot of good things defensively. it took us a little bit to get clicking and making shots offensively, but we had a lot of good contributions up-and-down the lineup. Blackwell looked like he was back into a groove, alongside Carrington... [I had] a proud dad moment there at the end with Isaac [Gard]. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to watch your son grow up in this gym from Day 1, literally, and to have that type of opportunity for me as a coach - and more importantly a dad - it's been an amazing journey that capped off an amazing senior night.Â
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Junior John Blackwell
On sending the seniors out on a high-note
"It felt special because last year I cried after we lost that game. Those guys [our seniors] last year gave so much to me, brought so much to my life and made me appreciate basketball and the commentary of what Wisconsin is. To do it for Isaac Gard, Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde and Braeden Carrington, it felt special today. Seeing all of Gard's work, he's constantly pushing himself in practice, to see him hit that shot was special."Â
On the team's defense
"It starts with the first-five. We turn it up defensively, with the guards just getting after it a little bit more. We're really trying to challenge people, and taking pride in people not going to score on us. We did a great job of that tonight. We worked on it in practice, and just had to put it together for 40 minutes, so we did a great job."Â
Braeden Carrington
On his last home game
"It felt great. I came out pretty mad, but the [shot] came off my hands feeling good. I've just felt good the last couple of games, so I'm going to keep shooting it and seeing it go in."
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