Behind a big night from junior John Blackwell, the No. 24 University of Wisconsin-Madison men’s basketball team started its season with a dominant 96-64 win over Campbell University Nov. 3, at the Kohl Center.
In the first official game at Wisconsin for many players on the roster, it was the returners who helped the Badgers start the 2025-26 season on the right foot.
Blackwell led the way with 31 points, and junior Nolan Winter added a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
As they did in their final exhibition against UW-Platteville, the Badgers got off to a slow start. Ahead of the first media timeout, the Badgers had two turnovers and allowed two offensive rebounds. Campbell took advantage of the sloppiness and poor perimeter defense from Wisconsin and led 11-6 at the timeout.
After the game went back and forth early, the third key returner on the roster, redshirt sophomore Jack Janicki, provided a spark off the bench and helped Wisconsin build a lead. Janicki had three steals in his first five minutes of action — four by halftime — and hit a 3-pointer as the Badgers opened up a 27-19 lead heading into the third media timeout of the half.
In the closing minute of the half, San Diego State transfer, senior Nick Boyd scored at the rim twice, giving him 11 first-half points. Campbell’s DJ Smith answered with a four-point play with 0.3 seconds remaining in the half, bringing his first-half total to 15 points and the score to 48-38.
Boyd was relentless in pressuring the defense off the dribble and was a key factor in unlocking the Wisconsin offense en route to a near 100-point performance.
“Because we [Boyd and Blackwell] can get downhill so dynamically, it allows us to have open looks,” Boyd said postgame. “His pressure on the rim opens it up for me, and I think my pressure allowed him to get some threes off.”
To open the second half, Boyd continued attacking the paint, scoring two more layups in the first two minutes of the half. He finished the game with 21 points. Virginia transfer, senior Andrew Rohde had a steal and assist to Blackwell for a 3-pointer soon after, igniting the Kohl Center crowd and extending the lead to 55-40.
Campbell hung around, however, as the sloppiness that plagued the Badgers early on crept back in.
Thanks to four Wisconsin turnovers and seven made free throws on seven attempts in the first seven minutes of the half, the Fighting Camels drew within five after a Dominykas Butka layup.
The Badgers — specifically Winter — answered quickly. He hit a 3-pointer, blocked a shot and threw down a dunk after a loose-ball scramble on three consecutive possessions to push the lead back to double digits at 65-55.
Campbell would not go away, cutting the lead to five once again after Smith hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night. It would, however, be the last field goal of the night for Campbell.
Shortly after, Blackwell scored a layup and was fouled, forcing the third media timeout of the half. Coming out of the timeout, Blackwell missed the free throw, but after an offensive rebound, Rohde knocked down a triple, to make it 72-62.
In the ensuing minutes, Blackwell hit two more 3-pointers and assisted Winter, pushing the lead to 20 and putting the game out of reach.
Not only did Blackwell take over, Wisconsin held Campbell without a field goal for the final 10:35 of game action, shutting the door on any potential upset scare.
“They [Wisconsin] locked in. They did what good teams do,” Campbell head coach John Andrzejek said. “And that’s why I would be very optimistic about this Badger team.”
Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard and his staff will have plenty to work with as Wisconsin’s new-look roster continues to gel, but thanks to a 31-4 run to close out the victory, the Badgers are off to a good start.
Next up for Wisconsin is a matchup with the Northern Illinois Huskies of Mid-American Conference on Friday, Nov. 7, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. CT.
