The Wisconsin Badgers secured a thrilling 97-93 road victory over the No. 15 Purdue Boilermakers on March 7, 2026, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. Nick Boyd and John Blackwell combined for 48 points to lead the Badgers to their fourth straight win over a ranked opponent. The game featured strong three-point shooting from Wisconsin, who sank a season-high 18 triples despite the absence of Nolan Winter.
The matchup marked the final game of the regular season and Purdue's Senior Day, but Wisconsin spoiled the celebration with a resilient performance. The Badgers improved to 22-9 overall and 14-6 in Big Ten play, moving into fifth place in the conference standings and surpassing Purdue. They now hold the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, with a chance to climb to No. 4 if Illinois loses to Maryland.
Wisconsin jumped to an early 13-9 lead, fueled by three-pointers from Aleksas Bieliauskas. Purdue responded with a 13-0 run to take a 22-13 advantage, prompting four turnovers from the Badgers in a three-minute span. However, Wisconsin steadied, erasing the deficit to trail by one at 26-25 before embarking on a 9-0 run with three consecutive triples to seize control at the 6:32 mark of the first half. They maintained the lead until 14:59 in the second half, entering halftime up 52-47 after hitting 12 threes in the period.
The second half remained streaky, with Wisconsin opening on a 7-2 run, only for Purdue to counter with an 8-0 spurt. The Badgers fired back with their own 8-0 surge, including threes from Austin Rapp and Bieliauskas. Later, after Purdue reclaimed the lead at 73-72, Blackwell hit a three, Andrew Rohde added a go-ahead triple, and Boyd contributed an and-1 to push Wisconsin ahead 81-75 with 8:29 remaining.
In the closing minutes, Boyd proved crucial, scoring 10 of Wisconsin's last 12 points with finishes at the rim, a jumper in the lane, and five assists overall. Blackwell tallied 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including five threes. Rapp added 17 points with four triples, while Bieliauskas scored 16 on 4-of-5 from deep. Purdue's Trey Kauffman-Renn had 17 points but shot 7-of-14 on two-pointers, and the Boilermakers grabbed 16 offensive rebounds for 20 second-chance points.
Without Winter due to a left ankle injury, Wisconsin's bigs stepped up, shooting 18-of-34 from three (52.9%) compared to Purdue's 11-of-25. The Badgers head to the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago, potentially facing the winner of the No. 12 vs. No. 13 matchup on Thursday around 2:00 p.m. CT.
