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

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Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd, right, drives to the basket against Washington center Lathan Sommerville (24) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the third round of the Big 10 Conference tournament Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Wisconsin guard John Blackwell, right, drives against Washington guard Wesley Yates III during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the third round of the Big 10 Conference tournament Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) — Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd, right, drives to the basket against Washington center Lathan Sommerville (24) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the third round of the Big 10 Conference tournament Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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5:14 PM on Thursday, March 12

By ANDREW SELIGMAN

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.

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