The Wisconsin Badgers concluded 2025 with an 80-60 win over the Milwaukee Panthers on Tuesday night. The Badgers got things started on defense by holding a fatigued Panthers team that played on Monday to two points through the first nine minutes of the game.
While Wisconsin kept Milwaukee from generating any offense, the Badgers built up an 18-2 lead and never let the Panthers challenge them in the first half.
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After taking a 37-21 halftime lead by holding the Panthers to a 26.5 percent from the field, the Badgers allowed Milwaukee to cut the lead into single digits early in the second half at 39-30.
That was the only time the Panthers threatened before Wisconsin took complete control the rest of the way. In total, Wisconsin held Milwaukee to a poor 33 percent from the field throughout the whole game.
For the second-straight game, Wisconsin took care of an overmatched opponent. However, the Badgers are still searching for a much cleaner performance.
The Panthers, an undersized opponent compared to the Badgers’ big men, tied Wisconsin in the rebounding battle at 40 boards, with Milwaukee holding a 13-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. It was also a lackluster shooting night from the free-throw line for Wisconsin, as the Badgers shot 20-of-32 from the charity stripe.
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Here are three things that stood out from Wisconsin’s win over Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Horrible three-point shooting
Folks, that was one of the worst three-point shooting performances by both teams in one game this season. The Panthers finished the game 3-for-22 from behind the three-point line.
However, the Badgers were not much better, shooting 4-of-22 from three. That’s a combined 7-of-44 by both teams. Wisconsin is fortunate that the Panthers were also struggling shooting from long range, or this game could have gotten interesting.
Nolan Winter
Winter, on a bum ankle, put together another solid performance with 14 points and seven rebounds on Tuesday against Milwaukee. He was highly efficient from the floor by hitting 5-of-8 shots and did a great job running the floor despite his ankle injury.
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After the game, Greg Gard stated that Winter “gutted it out” against the Panthers.
Nick Boyd
Like Winter, Boyd also had an efficient day scoring the ball, finishing with a team-high 16 points on 5-of-7 shots from the floor.
It was a much better shooting day from Boyd than against Central Michigan, where he shot 3-of-8. In the second half, when Milwaukee started to generate some momentum, Boyd scored on a floating jump shot while being fouled to swing momentum back to the Badgers. Twelve of those points came after Gard benched Boyd following a turnover early in the second half.
