Wisconsin has not lost back-to-back games at home in nearly three full seasons. Yet those are the stakes when the Badgers host Minnesota in a Big Ten matchup Wednesday in Madison, Wis.
Wisconsin (14-6, 6-3 Big Ten) let a 12-point second-half lead slip away in a 73-71 loss to Southern California on Sunday, which snapped the Badgers’ five-game winning streak. It was just Wisconsin’s second loss in 12 home games this season, the other to then-No. 5 Purdue.
Nick Boyd had 29 points, but he missed a difficult twisting drive in the closing seconds that could have tied the game.
“I just feel like we took our foot off the gas,” Boyd said afterward. “… We had that lead, you know, toughness plays, rebounds, offensive rebounds and then maybe got a little bit comfortable.”
The Badgers topped 90 three times during their winning streak. Their 71 points marked a season low at home.
“You don’t get discouraged,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “You have to make sure you keep taking the right shots and keep shooting, and good things will continue to happen.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had a somber locker room,” he added. “So, we’ll be OK.”
While Wisconsin attempts to avoid its first consecutive home losses since Jan. 28-Feb. 5, 2023, Minnesota (10-10, 3-6 Big Ten) has its own worries.
The Golden Gophers lost at home Saturday to then-No. 7 Nebraska, 76-57, for their fifth consecutive defeat. Minnesota led Nebraska 36-30 at the half, but Pryce Sandfort scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to rally the unbeaten Cornhuskers.
The Gophers were 9 of 31 beyond the arc, but 0 for 11 in the second half.
“I told the guys after the game, I thought for the first time kind of down the stretch, they kind of looked like they lost their spirit,” Minnesota coach Niko Medved said. “I thought Nebraska really kind of broke us here (Saturday) and that hasn’t happened to this team in a long time.”
Cade Tyson averages a team-high 20.1 points and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson adds 14.1 points and 6.9 rebounds. Langston Reynolds and Isaac Asuma add 10.6 and 10.1 ppg, respectively.
All four of these Gophers scored in double figures in the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 13 in Minneapolis. The Gophers owned an 11-point lead in the second half and forged a tie in the final seconds on a clutch 3-pointer by Tyson, but Wisconsin’s John Blackwell answered with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for a 78-75 win.
Blackwell finished with a game-high 27 points and senior backup Braeden Carrington, who spent his first two seasons at Minnesota, had a career-high 21 points on seven 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media
