Braeden Carrington Silences Minnesota Crowd in Homecoming

MINNEAPOLIS — About an hour before tip-off, Braeden Carrington sat on the floor at Williams Arena while the rest of the team warmed up. All dressed and ready to go, Carrington was mentally preparing himself for a homecoming at Williams Arena, one that the former Minnesota guard and Brooklyn Park native knew wasn’t going to start with a warm welcome.

“Coming in my mindset was, ‘As long as we win, I don’t really care,’” Carrington said. “Just couldn’t lose this one. Last night, I’ve probably never been as anxious to play a game. This one, for whatever reason, had me up all night.”

Carrington had good reason to be nervous.

A two-year contributor for the Gophers, Carrington was booed upon checking into the game. Those boos rained down on Carrington every time he touched the ball. And when Carrington missed a shot, the crowd let him know about it. Carrington, who had been on the other side of the equation for Minnesota in 2023-24, knew he wasn’t going to be received favorably.

“They did that to Jameson Battle when he came back from Ohio State,” said Carrington. “Especially coming to Wisconsin, I expected it.”

Fortunately for Carrington, he didn’t give the Minnesota fans much to take joy in. Not only did Wisconsin squeak out a 78-75 win thanks to a John Blackwell 3-pointer as time expired, but the senior guard also made his first two shots from the field en route to a career-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from 3-point range.

Driving the knife into the Gophers, Carrington knocked down three consecutive triples at one point in the second half, and capped off a 14-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers in a 30-second span to give Wisconsin its largest lead of the game.

“I got a coach that believes in me, knows what I can do, and obviously, I have guys around me that believe in me too,” he said. “They want me to shoot the ball.”

Carrington, who transferred to Tulsa after those two seasons in Minnesota, started 19 games for the Golden Hurricanes as a junior. He averaged 7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. In what was considered a very strong transfer portal class for UW head coach Greg Gard, who landed three high-level starters, Carrington flew under the radar as the final addition.

Looking for an experienced backup guard late in the cycle, Gard targeted Carrington, who he sensed had a strong desire to win after three losing seasons between Minnesota and Tula.

“I think our intuition has proven to be right,” Gard said…”He wants to win. That’s all he talks about. You have to have guys with that mindset in your locker room. Regardless of where they come from, when they come, you want competitive-minded, like-minded, guys that want to play for each other and want to have success on the court.”

Carrington’s seven 3-pointers were one shy of tying the single-game school record, set by special assistant to the head coach Brad Davison.

Helping get Wisconsin back on track, Carrington has been vital off the bench. In addition to his 21 points on Tuesday, Carrington grabbed five rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. In Saturday’s upset over then No. 2 Michigan, Carrington went for 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal while sealing the game late with a clutch free throw.

“If you look at really good teams, they always have a guy on the bench who brings a spark plug,” said Blackwell, who scored a game-high 27 points. “And I think Braeden does that. He’s been doing that really well. He’s just growing his confidence.

“Last year, we had guys like Kamari (Kamari McGee) and Gilly (Carter Gilmore) come off the bench that provided a different type of weapon for us. And I think with him, it’s not really offensively what he’s doing. Obviously, he had seven threes, but what’s getting him going offensively is his defense.

“He’s everywhere on the court. He’s switching, he’s communicating, and he’s being a leader on the floor. He’s a senior. He’s been in these moments before, so he’s just constantly talking once he’s engaged in the game.”

Carrington, who had been banged up, is averaging 13.9 minutes per game this season, but has played 27 minutes in each of UW’s last two outings. The Badgers were +14 with Carrington on the floor at Minnesota.

In his three seasons of collegiate basketball, Carrington has never been on a team that’s reached the NCAA Tournament. In fact, in his first and third seasons, Minnesota and Tulsa both finished under .500. With the Badgers now having won three-straight and sitting at 12-5 overall, including 4-2 in Big Ten play, you can bet Carrington is soaking this all up and hungry for more.

“He hasn’t won at a high level, so I think that’s a motivating factor,” said Gard. “He wants to win…The experience shows. The fact that he’s got years under his belt shows in these types of games, when he doesn’t flinch in the environment.”