Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin-Platteville
Badgers cruise past Pioneers, 69-53
October 29, 2025 | Men's Basketball
Winter records double-double
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin men's basketball team topped UW-Platteville, 69-53, on Wednesday at the Kohl Center in their final exhibition of the preseason. The contest marked the ninth-annual Garding Against Cancer game, pitting UW head coach Greg Gard against his brother, UW-Platteville head coach Jeff Gard.
Junior Nolan Winter dropped a game-high 17 points and 15 rebounds, shooting 8-of-11 from the field. It would've marked the fourth double-double of his career, with the most recent coming against Michigan State last March, where he had 12 points and 17 rebounds. That rebounding figure was the most for a Badger since 2002-03.
The Badgers and Pioneers traded scores for the opening 16 minutes, before the Badgers broke out a 12-0 run into the Under-4 media timeout. Portland transfer Austin Rapp capped the streak with a strong and-one finish, ultimately the Badgers held a 31-22 lead at the half.
Count it 🗣️
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) October 30, 2025
Aussie's and-one puts Bucky up 7 with a minute to go in 1H
📺 B1G+ x https://t.co/eHYeuH46ey pic.twitter.com/kTu2tIt5xN
Wisconsin took that momentum into the second interval, growing their advantage to 14 points with under 16:00 to play. Virginia transfer Andrew Rohde cashed in a quick five points in two minutes, including a three-ball right before the Under-16 media timeout.
UW's size advantage took over down the stretch as Winter found a groove with 8 second-half points. He and Rapp combined for 31 total points, with the Australian tallying 14 of his own and adding seven rebounds.
Wisconsin's guards were also key in expanding the lead as Nick Boyd posted 11 points, all of which came in the second half. Junior John Blackwell continues to be the Swiss Army Knife for Bucky, recording nine points, seven rebounds and two assists.
The Bucky bench accounted for over 15% of the UW point tally. True freshman Hayden Jones notched his unofficial first-career points, posting five. Tulsa transfer Braeden Carrington had an impactful 12 minutes with four points, two assists and a rebound. Freshman Will Garlock was the final Badger bench player to score, using a nice pump-fake up-and-under layup early in the first half.
FROM THE COURT
UW head coach Greg Gard:
"We turned up the defensive pressure late in the first-half, and then I finally found a combination that was well connected and together in terms of covering up for each other. [From that] in the back-half of that second-half we were able to get stops."
UP NEXT: UW opens the regular season against Campbell on Monday at the Kohl Center. Tip is set for 7 p.m. and tickets are available on UWBadgers.Com.
