Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin-Platteville
Five Things to Know: Badgers host UW-Platteville in Garding against Cancer Game
October 28, 2025 | Men's Basketball
Wisconsin wraps up exhibition action on Wednesday at the Kohl Center
MADISON, Wis. – The No. 24 Wisconsin men’s basketball team will wrap up its exhibition slate with a matchup against UW-Platteville on Wednesday at the Kohl Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and tickets are available on UWBadgers.Com.
Wednesday marks the ninth-annual Garding against Cancer game, which began in the 2015-16 campaign against UW-Platteville.
Fans that can’t make it to Madison can watch on Big Ten Plus or listen on the Badger Radio Network as Matt Lepay and Brian Butch have the call.
- LAST TIME OUT: The Badgers fell 84-83 to Oklahoma on Friday night at the Bad Boy Mower’s Series - Milwaukee contest at Fiserv Forum. John Blackwell had 20 points in the set back while Austin Rapp chipped in 17. It marked UW’s second-ever exhibition against a Division I opponent and its first against a Power-4 team.
2. BLAST FROM THE PAST: Wisconsin is 3-0 all time against UW-Platteville, Greg Gard’s alma mater, including a 86-58 win in the last meeting in 2016.
Gard also served as an assistant coach at UW-Platteville from 1993-99. During Gard's years on the Pioneer staff that was led by Hall of Famer Bo Ryan, UW-Platteville compiled a 161-13 (.925) record and won three NCAA Division III titles, five straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championships and appeared in six consecutive NCAA tournaments.
3. GARDING AGAINST CANCER: The battle between in-state foes will be the ninth-annual Garding against Cancer contest as UW head coach Greg Gard will face off against his brother, UW-Platteville head coach Jeff Gard.
Since December 2016, the Garding Against Cancer initiative has raised more than $9 million for cancer research and patient care across Wisconsin. The goals of the initiative aim to make a difference in the lives of researchers, patients, and families throughout the state.
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— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) October 28, 2025
JB is on the Jerry West Award Watch List@_Johnblackwell1 x #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/WwFXyxBdGR
4. BUY STOCK NOW: A native of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Blackwell picked up his second preseason honor Tuesday. The junior guard was one-of-20 named to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Preseason Watch List. He’s accompanied by two other Big Ten guards from Illinois and Washington, and is one-of-eight players returners to their program from the season prior. He ranked second on the Badgers last year in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game en route to All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors.
5. TURNING THE PAGE: The Badgers open regular-season action against Campbell on Monday in a 7 p.m. contest at the Kohl Center. They’ll follow that up with a Friday night matchup against Northern Illinois, tipping off at 7:30 p.m.
