Blackwell scores 34, No. 23 Wisconsin holds off Washington 85-82 to advance to Big Ten quarterfinals

By Canadian Press on March 12, 2026.

CHICAGO (AP) — John Blackwell scored a career-high 34 points with six 3-pointers and No. 23 Wisconsin hung on to beat Washington 85-82 in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.

Nick Boyd added 23 points with five 3-pointers while Andrew Rohde hit two free throws in the closing seconds to stretch it to a three-point game after the Badgers (23-9) let an 18-point lead in the second half shrink to one. The Huskies’ Zoom Diallo missed a pull-up 3 just before the buzzer.

Wisconsin will face No. 9 Illinois, which had a bye through the first three rounds, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Washington’s Hannes Steinbach cut it to 81-79 with a driving layup with just two minutes remaining. Diallo made it a one-point game a minute later when he got fouled on a reverse layup and hit the second three throw after missing the first.

Blackwell then pulled up in the paint and scored for Wisconsin to make it 83-80 with 49 seconds remaining. Diallo cut it to one with a driving layup with 17 seconds left after the Huskies’ Quimari Peterson missed a 3.

Rohde made it 85-82 when he hit those two free throws with eight seconds remaining, and the Badgers hung on when Diallo missed the potential tying 3 from the top of the key.

Blackwell had 10 rebounds and made 6 of 12 from 3-point range. Boyd was 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. The Badgers made 15 3-pointers after setting a school record with 18 in a road game Saturday in a 97-93 win over Purdue. It was the Badgers’ Big Ten-leading 23rd game with 10 or more 3s.

Steinbach had 25 points and 16 rebounds for Washington (16-17). Diallo scored 24.

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The Badgers will try to beat the Illini again after squeezing out a 92-90 overtime win at Illinois on Feb. 10. Boyd scored 25 points and Blackwell had 24 in that game.

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Andrew Seligman, The Associated Press