(UW ATHLETICS) MINNEAPOLIS – Wisconsin men’s basketball junior John Blackwell hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to lift UW over Minnesota, 78-75, on Tuesday night at the Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
The 6-foot-4 guard finished with 27 points on the day, going 8-of-14 from the field and 5-for-7 from the perimeter. Blackwell’s dagger was the first buzzer-beater to win a game since Bronson Koenig hit a three-ball to send Wisconsin to the Sweet 16 over Xavier on March 20, 2016. For Blackwell, it’s his seventh 20-point outing this season, and second such career performance against Minnesota.
Blackwell talked about the sequence from the Gophers tying the game on a three to his winning it with another three.
Former Gopher Braeden Carrington hit a UW season-high seven three-pointers, posting a career-best 21 points. He added five rebounds, two blocks and a steal off the bench. His seven treys were the most for a Badger in a game this season, and the second-most in program history.
Carrington said that he was anxious for this one.
Overall, four Badgers finished in double figures, including Nolan Winter and Nick Boyd. Winter notched his eighth double-double of the season, tallying 12 points and 11 rebounds. Boyd finished with 11 points, four assists and three boards. The grad student’s prolific scoring season continued as he’s gotten into double digits in every contest this year.
Greg Gard talked about how his team has grown a lot in the last month.
Gard said that it was great to get the win.
He said that things got better in the second half.
The Badgers started the game slowly, falling into a 35-28 deficit at the half. After falling behind as much as 11 points in the second period, Bucky regained the lead late thanks to a 16-2 run right before the four-minute media timeout. Braeden Carrington came alive during the stretch, hitting three-straight threes. The two sides battled down the stretch, before Minnesota hit a game-tying three-pointer with five seconds to go. Blackwell raced up the floor and fired from over 25-feet, lacing the winner as time expired. The 11-point deficit is the largest road comeback since a Feb. 16, 2002, trip to Minnesota, where UW dug out of a 13-point hole to win 67-62 in Minneapolis.
Up Next: The Badgers return to the Kohl Center for a Saturday matinee with Rutgers. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. on Big Ten Network. Tickets are available here. The Scarlet Knights (9-8, 2-4 B1G) are coming off a thrilling 77-75 overtime win against Northwestern on Sunday. Leading scorer Tariq Francis dropped a season-high 30 points in the victory, improving to 15.3 points per game this year.
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