Wisconsin Basketball: Where Nick Boyd ranks among March Madness players
We are simply someday away from the beginning of March Madness, because the No. 5 seed Wisconsin Badgers will tackle the No. 12 seed High Point Panthers within the first spherical of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, with tip-off slated for 12:50 pm CT.
The Badgers are using sizzling heading into the match, due to a robust closing six video games, the place they went 5-1 with wins over the Washington Huskies (2x), Purdue Boilermakers, and Illinois Fighting Illini. The lone loss got here in opposition to the Michigan Wolverines, a top-three crew within the nation and a No. 1 seed within the NCAA Tournament, by three factors on a buzzer beater.
An enormous a part of the success has been the dominance of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, who’ve fueled the Badgers this season en path to being among the best backcourts in school basketball.
Boyd, who was a second-team All-Big Ten choice, averaged 20.6 factors and 4.2 assists this season for the Badgers, whereas Blackwell, a third-team All-Big Ten choice, averaged 19.0 factors and 4.9 rebounds a sport.
Both players set profession highs in factors throughout the Big Ten Tournament, and would be the keys for the Badgers in the event that they make a run within the NCAA Tournament over the following few weeks.
Heading into March Madness, the place do Boyd and Blackwell rank among the highest players nonetheless taking part in?
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf ranked the Top 50 players in March Madness, slotting Boyd in at No. 20.
“Boyd has emerged up this list in recent weeks, as the San Diego State transfer is operating at an incredibly high level on the offensive end down the stretch of the season,” Borzello wrote. “He had a fantastic performance against Illinois in the Big Ten tournament, scoring 38 points and dishing out six assists, and has scored at least 20 points in 15 of 21 games since the calendar turned to 2026. In Big Ten play, Boyd ranks fourth in scoring and 10th in assists, averaging 20.6 points for the season.”
Boyd ranks solely behind Jeremy Fears Jr., Keaton Wagler, Braden Smith, and Yaxel Lendeborg among Big Ten players on the checklist.
John Blackwell, alternatively, was not among the Top 50 of ESPN’s checklist, as an alternative being named as an Honorable Mention.
But, if Wisconsin goes to make a run in March, they’ll want each Boyd and Blackwell to proceed acting at a excessive stage, simply as they did within the Big Ten Tournament.
