A spectacular performance by the Wisconsin Badgers frontcourt led the way to a 31 point victory over Ball State, defeating the Cardinals 86-55 on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
Nolan Winter tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action, overpowering Ball State’s undersized big men. Winter added three blocks on the other end as well, establishing himself as a true co-star on this team alongside John Blackwell.
The Badgers started the opening half on a heater led by Winter and Nick Boyd, who finished with 12 points. Out of the gate, Wisconsin was 4-for-10 from beyond the arc, including two early 3s from Boyd. However, the shooting woes trickled in, as they went 2-for-13 in their following attempts from deep.
The bigs took advantage of Ball State’s lackluster interior defense. Andrew Rohde, who had 10 points on the night, led a perfect give-and-go to Winter for the slam and foul, helping Wisconsin take an early 25-6 lead. The Badgers were able to get desirable switches inside, leading to early contributions from Austin Rapp and Aleksas Bieliauskas.
Defensively, Rohde and Winter harassed the Cardinals throughout the night. Seamless switching and half-court defense, along with aggressive close outs, forced Ball State to shoot just 3-for-14 from deep in the first half and 7-for-23 for the game.
Despite an early 19 point lead, Ball State picked up their defense, throwing a compilation of zones at the Badger offense. Wisconsin missed seven of their last eight shots from the field, but was still able to take a 39-27 advantage into the locker room.
After the break, head coach Greg Gard’s adjustments to the zone proved effective, as Wisconsin slowly extended their lead past the 20 point mark with 13:00 remaining in the game. From then on, the Badgers did not look back, maintaining relentless effort on defense.
A bit of comedic relief came after a Preston Copeland and-one, as he managed to airball a free throw by a wide margin. Each time Copeland had the ball until the final buzzer, the Badger faithful let him have it with “airball” chants.
Despite being held to just eight points, Blackwell found other ways to impact the game, adding five rebounds (three offensive) and four assists. While Blackwell only put up six total shots (all 3-pointers), Braedon Carrington stepped up with 12 points, knocking down two key deep balls. With 11:38 remaining, Carrington led an impressive push, dishing a pass to Rapp for 3, followed by a steal-and-score to bring the score to 63-36.
The frontcourt continued their dominance throughout the second half. Rapp totaled 11 points and three blocks, converting from behind the arc twice. Bieliauskas provided six points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Despite not scoring, Will Garlock found Bieliauskas under the hoop on three separate occasions.
Through three games, this trio is showing flashes of greatness behind Winter, something Wisconsin will need going forward against tougher opponents. Rapp’s nifty pass into a Rohde three topped off a 15-2 run with 7:54 remaining. After going 6-for-23 from deep in the first half, Wisconsin shot an impressive 8-for-15 in the second, helping extend the lead to more than30 points multiple times.
The Badgers were truly the better team all night. At times, Ball State’s aggressive zone defense gave Wisconsin trouble, but a confident Gard trusted his team to adjust. Wisconsin also shot 50% from the field and were a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, much better than the Cardinal’s 12-for-21 performance.
At 3-0, Wisconsin enters a six day break with some swagger. Next Monday, they’ll take on Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at the Kohl Center at 7:00 p.m. Shortly after, the Badgers will gear up for what may be the most anticipated game of the season against A.J. Dybantsa and BYU on Friday at 3:00 p.m. The Badgers will head to Salt Lake City and look for revenge against the Cougars, who ended Wisconsin’s 2024-25 season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
