The Wisconsin Badgers are enjoying a nice four-game win streak over the last two weeks, which has improved their stock quite significantly. Seen as a team outside the NCAA Tournament picture after a blowout loss to Purdue, Wisconsin has rattled off wins over UCLA, Michigan, Minnesota, and Rutgers, and now stands just one spot outside of the AP Top 25.
After a pair of ugly shooting games to end 2025 and begin the new year, the Badgers have started to figure out their offense, hitting double-digit threes in each of the four wins, while they’ve hit that coveted 80-point marker.
In fact, when the Badgers score 80 or more points, they’ve been 12-0 this season. That’s the magic number they need to hit to win games. When they’ve fallen short of 80, they’re just 1-5, with the Minnesota game being the one exception (Wisconsin scored 78).
Wisconsin’s offense is the key to this team. They’re still working things out on the defensive end, struggling with consistency as we saw in the Rutgers win. After a stellar first half defensively, the Badgers allowed Rutgers to score 58 points and come back within single digits in the second half before putting them away.
Offensively, the Badgers aim to get shots at the rim, from three, and at the free-throw line. However, the offense becomes too stagnant when they aren’t hitting threes, which has been the case in some of those losses. But they’ve found some consistency over the four-game stretch, generating good looks and becoming a highly-efficient offense.
Wisconsin has hit 12+ threes seven times this year, winning all seven games. Three of those have come in the last three games. Extending that to 10 threes, the Badgers have achieved the feat 12 times this year, ranking second in the Big Ten behind Illinois (13).
Wisconsin will hope its defense starts to turn things around with consistency as the Big Ten slate goes on. But, on offense, they have a benchmark to win games: score 80 points.
