The Wisconsin Badgers pulled off an upset over the No. 24 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Wednesday evening, marking their second Big Ten upset over a top-25 team after they beat No. 20 Michigan State earlier this season.
It was a huge win at home that propelled Wisconsin to 13-7 on the season and 5-4 in conference play, and marked the Badgers’ second straight win after they beat the Oregon Ducks 94-92 at home in double overtime over the weekend.
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This one was a much different type of game, as the Badgers were more focused inside the perimeter after hitting 17 threes against Oregon, shooting 45.9 percent from deep in that game. They dominated the glass with 45 rebounds, as compared to Nebraska’s 26, as they had 14 offensive rebounds, which led to 16 second-chance points.
Gift Uchenna had a double-double, scoring 22 points and recording 14 rebounds. While Wisconsin had 22 turnovers, they had a very strong defensive performance, holding Nebraska to just 37.1 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from three. That included keeping the Huskers scoreless over the final two minutes of the game, as Wisconsin scored the final six points to get the victory and upset another Top 25 team.
After years of struggles in conference play (Wisconsin hasn’t had a winning record in Big Ten play since 2010-11), the Badgers are 5-4 and have already reached the win total they had a season ago under new head coach Robin Pingeton. They’re certainly with their flaws, but the Badgers have found different ways to win games and now have a few high-profile wins on their resume.
Thursday marked Wisconsin’s second Quad 1 victory of the season (after the Michigan State win), and the Badgers are right in the middle-of-the-pack in the Big Ten standings. They do have quite a tough schedule to end the season, facing four ranked teams (at No. 12 Ohio State, vs. No. 25 Washington, at No. 3 UCLA, and vs. 10 Iowa).
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Additionally, only one of Wisconsin’s last nine games will come against a Big Ten team that has a conference record below .500. So there will definitely be some ups and downs as Wisconsin looks to finish the season strong. But we’re seeing this Badgers squad have some fight and find a way to upset a couple of Top 25 teams so far.
