Wisconsin made more free throws in the second half (13) than it even attempted in the first half (four). Blackwell alone drew four fouls in the second half, and Boyd drew another four after halftime. That helped put the Badgers in the bonus for most of the second half.

“We initiated things better,” Gard said. “We were on attack mode better. We got to the free-throw line. … We were just tougher in all aspects of the game.”

Perhaps even more importantly, the Badgers showed improvement on the defensive end in the second half.

Yes, Minnesota technically shot a higher percentage in the second half (50%) than in the first (43%). But the Gophers turned the ball over on 29.6% of possessions in the second half rather than 9.7% in the first half and averaged fewer points per possession after intermission.

“Defensively, I thought we had more bite to us than what we did in the first half,” Gard said.

Wisconsin also made some defensive plays at critical moments that had an impact bigger than a glance at the box score might suggest. Janicki’s steal while UW trailed by one point is near the top of that list, as is the redshirt sophomore’s block with 45 seconds remaining.

“It was good for us to respond specifically from the defensive end,” Gard said. “Shots are going to come and go. They’ll fall eventually. But that other end is what got us back on track.”

That improved physicality was against a short-handed Minnesota team that was without leading scorer Cade Tyson, among others. The Gophers used only seven players, and three of their starters were on the floor for at least 38 minutes.

“Could you say that that’s a factor? Yeah,” Medved said. “But that’s not – everyone’s tired. I think we lose our focus sometimes in the second half. … If we’re going to say we’re tired, we’re just making excuses.”

Wisconsin’s rough first half starts with lack of shooting success, but also lack of physicality

Wisconsin’s rough first half was a continuation of the shooting woes that saddled the Badgers in the 73-71 loss to USC three days earlier.

After shooting 34.3% from the field and 24.3% from 3-point range against the Trojans, Wisconsin made only 17.9% of shots from the field and 25% from 3-point range in the first half against Minnesota.

It’s been quite the harbinger of the Badgers’ 2025-26 success, as they went into the Jan. 28 rivalry game with a 12-0 record when shooting at least 45% from the field versus a 2-6 record when falling short of that mark.

Of all the issues that Wisconsin experienced in the first half, though, the quality of shot attempts might be the last thing that comes to mind for Gard.

“It was how hard we were playing, how physical we were,” Gard said. “And then when you don’t play hard and you don’t play physical, you end up getting crappy looks. It’s amazing how that works when the ball doesn’t go in. You play hard, you play physical – man, it makes the ball go in. It’s magic.”