Skip to main content

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

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.

Up next

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.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Hawkeyes are set to play Vanderbilt in a November women’s basketball game in Sioux City, Iowa

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Vanderbilt and Iowa, both ranked in the top 10 late last season, will meet in a women's basketball game early next season in northwest Iowa, the schools announced Tuesday. The neutral-site game is set for Nov. 15 at the Tyson Events Center, which is 290 miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Vanderbilt is 4-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes. This will be the teams' first meeting since 1997. The Commodores are expected to return national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes. She averaged 27 points per game and was Southeastern Conference player of the year. Vanderbilt was ranked as high as No. 5 and finished No. 10 with a 29-5 record after reaching the NCAA Sweet 16.
Read Next Story