John Blackwell scored 25 points to lead sweet-shooting Wisconsin to a 97-93 win Saturday at No. 15 Purdue in a Big Ten regular-season finale.
Nick Boyd had 23 points, Austin Rapp scored 17 points and Alexsas Bieliauskas added 16 points for Wisconsin (22-9, 14-6), which has won four straight games against ranked teams for the first time since it reached the NCAA championship game in 2014-15.
Wisconsin, which played without top big man Nolan Winter due to an ankle injury, made a season-high 18 3-pointers while hitting 52.9% from 3-point range and 87.5% at the free-throw line. The Badgers can earn the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten tournament and the accompanying triple bye if Illinois loses Sunday at Maryland.
Fletcher Loyer scored 23 points, Braden Smith had 20 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn added 17 points in the trio’s final game at Mackey Arena for Purdue (23-8, 13-7), which held a 34-22 rebounding advantage. The Boilers shot 11 of 25 from 3-point range and 34 of 67 overall.
The teams swapped the lead four times in the second half before Wisconsin took the lead for good on Andrew Rhode’s 3-pointer with 8:57 to go.
Each time Purdue would make a big shot, such as Loyer’s 3-pointer from the corner that cut the lead to 92-91 with 1:24, Wisconsin would respond. Boyd banked home a jump hook to restore a 3-point edge.
After Purdue’s Oscar Cluff split a pair of free throws with 29.4 seconds left, the Boilers fouled Braeden Carrington and he sank two free throws to give Wisconsin a 96-92 lead.
Kaufman-Renn split a pair of free throws with 13.0 seconds left to make it 96-93, then Boyd did the same. Purdue then missed a pair of 3-point shots before the buzzer sounded.
Wisconsin trailed 32-28 with 6:50 remaining in the first half, but countered with a 9-0 run to take a 37-32 lead with 5:25 to go until halftime.
The Badgers led by as many as seven points in the first half before taking a 52-47 lead into the locker room at halftime. They set a program record for 3-pointers in a half by hitting 12 of 22.
Purdue held a 62-61 lead with 14:59 left, but Wisconsin went on a 7-0 run to take a 69-62 lead with 13:03 remaining.
The Boilermakers fought back to take a 73-72 lead with 10:06 left, until Wisconsin answered back with a 9-2 surge to grab an 81-75 lead with 8:29 remaining.
