What stood out from Wisconsin basketball's exhibition loss to Oklahoma
Wisconsin faced Oklahoma in a preseason exhibition at Fiserv Forum. Here's what stood out from the Badgers’ 84–83 loss to the Sooners.
The Greg Gard era opened its 11th chapter Friday night as the No. 24 Wisconsin men’s basketball team unveiled its retooled roster in the Bad Boy Mowers Series exhibition against Oklahoma held at Fiserv Forum.
In a matchup that was more about evaluation than outcome, the Badgers fell 84–83 to the Sooners in front of 2,344 fans, giving the staff a real look at how this retooled group fits together heading into the 2025–26 season.
While the result won’t count in the standings or on an NCAA Tournament résumé, the performance did provide plenty of early insight into what this team could potentially become. Gard made it clear earlier this week that the exhibition would be about learning, both for the players and for him.
“Idealistically, you’d like to be able to play ten,” Gard said after the Red-White scrimmage. “How each game plays out determines whether you can do that or not, and to what extent. “We’ll work through rotations, and I have to learn. They have to learn, and we’ll see where we are. But I like the depth of this group. I’m going to have some tough decisions to make.”
True to his word, the Badgers mixed and matched lineups, saw flashes from plenty of new faces, and exposed a few areas still in need of polish.
That said, there was no shortage of storylines to unpack from Wisconsin’s first true exhibition against another Division I opponent since 2017. Here’s what stood out from the Badgers’ exhibition loss to Oklahoma.
Nick Boyd looks like the engine of everything
San Diego State transfer guard Nick Boyd didn’t have his sharpest shooting night, having gone just 6-for-17 from the field and 1-for-6 from deep, but the takeaway here isn’t about efficiency. It’s about control.
Boyd plays with a burst Wisconsin hasn’t had in quite some time. His ability to push tempo, get downhill, and pressure the rim changed the rhythm of possessions. At times, that energy bordered on chaotic, but for a team that shot 31 threes on the night, that type of pace is essential.
He finished with 19 points, six rebounds, and three assists with no turnovers, but his impact was noteworthy. Boyd’s transition pressure opened up clean perimeter looks for shooters like Austin Rapp and John Blackwell.
Boyd also got to the line several times, going 6-for-8 from the stripe, an encouraging sign for a team that lost one of its best players at attacking the rim and drawing fouls in John Tonje, who provided that element so consistently last season.
In a system built to stretch defenses, Boyd is the ignition switch. When he’s attacking, UW looks dangerous.
Austin Rapp was a transfer portal hit
Everything Austin Rapp has shown since arriving on campus, and even in the Badgers’ Red-White scrimmage, points to a player who’s going to be a star in his role. Nothing about this game changed that sentiment.
Rapp finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists, and had three steals.
He moves well without the ball, spaces the floor, and doesn’t need much room to rise and fire. That combination, paired with Boyd’s ability to collapse defenses, makes him one of Wisconsin’s most natural fits in this offense. He was a remarkable portal evaluation by this staff.
He’s not going to lead the team in overall volume of shots, but he’s going to get high-quality ones. And when Rapp’s hitting, everything else opens up for his teammates. Rapp looks like one of the biggest beneficiaries of the offensive system that Gard has built around floor spacing and pace.
The offensive pieces fit
Offensively, this team already has an identity, and it’s one that feels different from the deliberate, methodical Wisconsin teams of the past. It’s a system that’s been several years in the making, one that Wisconsin has steadily refined and recruited around to match specific skill sets. Now, the Badgers finally have the personnel needed to ratchet things up a bit.
The Badgers shot 10-of-31 on 3-point attempts (32%) and scored 36 points in the paint, showing a willingness to play inside-out with tempo.
John Blackwell finished with 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting, five rebounds, and three assists, providing the scoring punch we’ve come to expect. He got to his spots with ease, hit several big shots, and continues to be one of the only players Gard allows to take those midrange looks, because few in college basketball create space and knock them down as efficiently as Blackwell.
Andrew Rohde, meanwhile, served as the connective tissue, finishing with five points, four assists, and three steals across 27 minutes. He flashed some impressive passing touch and looks poised to be a real asset in the pick-and-roll. Some nights, he’ll be asked to score more, but with the pieces around him in the starting lineup, his selflessness and versatility will translate into a lot of winning basketball.
When the offense flowed through the backcourt of Boyd, Rohde, and Blackwell, the ball moved freely. Wisconsin assisted on 15 of its 30 field goals, a number that reflects balance and spacing. The pieces fit. There’s still timing and rhythm to iron out, which will only improve with time. While the shooting numbers against Oklahoma weren’t great, the process was solid.
The Badgers generated plenty of clean looks that just didn’t fall. Once those start dropping, this group has the potential for some big nights, and it’s hard to imagine Nolan Winter having many games like this one.
Rotation starting to take shape
Aleksas Bieliauskas appears to have the early edge as Wisconsin’s preferred frontcourt option off the bench. The Lithuanian freshman logged 13 minutes, scoring six points on 2-for-4 shooting from deep. He’s experienced in pick-and-roll reads, offers a shooting threat, and even though he made a few mistakes late, Bieliauskas looks like a solid pickup.
You can see why the staff trusts him to play, even if there’s room to grow.
Behind him, freshman center Will Garlock and guard Hayden Jones both saw brief runs, reinforcing what Gard hinted earlier this month: both have a chance to crack the rotation. Expect Bieliauskas to handle the bulk of backup frontcourt minutes, while Garlock provides more situational depth.
Early on, the Badgers staff seemed to prefer pairing Bieliauskas alongside Rapp, while Garlock spent more time opposite Winter. It could have just been Gard experimenting in an exhibition, but it’s something to monitor moving forward as he figures out how to stagger his frontcourt minutes.
On the perimeter, Jack Janicki looks like the clear top backcourt option off the bench for Wisconsin. He’s capable of handling the ball and taking on some primary ball-handling duties when needed, but he’s also comfortable sliding into a more natural role on the wing. Janicki went 1-for-3 from deep against Oklahoma, and while his offense still needs to take another step for him to reach his potential, the staff has spoken glowingly about his development and what he can bring as a glue-guy type.
His defensive effort was also notable: he competed hard and stayed disciplined. I’d expect to see plenty of Janicki, along with Bieliauskas, as two of Wisconsin’s first options off the bench.
Braeden Carrington, meanwhile, should round out the rotation as another key backcourt reserve. He played just eight minutes, scoring three points and grabbing two rebounds. He looks poised to log consistent minutes as someone who can guard multiple positions and stretch the floor.
Gard said postgame that Jones “showed him enough” to warrant more minutes than he got against the Sooners. Where those come from remains unclear, but it’s a good problem to have.
The defense is a work in progress, and that’s okay
The defensive numbers weren’t pretty: Oklahoma shot 52% from the field and 55% from three (11-for-20). At first glance, that looks alarming.
But context matters.
Wisconsin, like most teams, has nine new players still learning how to communicate effectively and rotate together. The Sooners got hot, particularly from deep, and several of those makes came off contested looks.
Gard’s teams typically build defensive cohesion over time, and that’s likely to be the case again. Wisconsin forced 17 turnovers and outscored Oklahoma 14-10 in second-chance points, a sign that the physicality and effort are there. The rotations, communication, and timing will come.
Still, there are legitimate questions about what Wisconsin’s interior presence will look like, with no one in the frontcourt fitting the mold of a traditional center. The transition defense also remains a work in progress. But things should tighten up as the season goes on, and Gard has made it clear that the analytics spell out exactly what a Final Four-caliber defense looks like, and you can bet this staff will be pushing to reach that bar.
It’s easy to fixate on the final score, but the exhibition did exactly what it was supposed to do: reveal what Wisconsin basketball could become.
The Badgers got to see how their starting five played and reacted against another well-coached opponent, which lineups meshed best in a live setting, and how their offense looked when tested outside of practice. It was a helpful first step in preparing for the opener. They are not a finished product, but a glimpse showed that Gard has plenty of tools to work with.
We appreciate you taking the time to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. Your support means the world to us and has helped us become a leading independent source for Wisconsin Badgers coverage.
You can also follow Site Publisher Dillon Graff at @DillonGraff on X.
For those of us far away, this was a great analysis. Can’t wait for the season to start.
Great 🏀 read 👍