Wisconsin

Why Charles Perkins feels he was overlooked and 3 other updates on the Wisconsin Badgers defensive line

Published

9 months ago

April 21, 2025

Press Room

Why Charles Perkins feels he was overlooked and 3 other updates on the Wisconsin Badgers defensive line

MADISON – The key word for the Wisconsin defensive line this spring is twitchy.

The Badgers coaches don’t feel they added only size to the interior defensive line, but believe they’ve brought in players who bring an element of athleticism to the position.

With that size and strength, the Badgers hope to come up with more plays made behind the line of scrimmage.

“The biggest thing we talked about heading into this offseason was creating more negative-yardage plays and playing in the opponent’s backfield,” defensive line coach E.J. Whitlow said. “We just really talked about attacking and being aggressive and knock back and playing north and south and just being the aggressor.”

Whitlow and some of his players met with reporters April 21. Here is what we learned.

Charles Perkins feels he was overlooked in high school

Players who make the jump from the FCS level either developed into FBS players at some point in their college career or were somehow overlooked in recruiting.

Charles Perkins, a redshirt junior who has worked regularly with the first team, feels he was overlooked. His junior season of high school ball was canceled due to COVID-19, which prevented him from having a springboard into a key time in the recruiting process.

Perkins’ coach, Cedric Miller, would try to tell FBS recruiters about him. In two seasons at FCS Tennessee Martin for them to really take notice.

“So I had two great seasons at UT Martin, jumping into the portal was nothing new to me,” he said. “I knew I was (destined) to play big-time football. It’s nothing new to me, just new to the people who found out who I was.”

Life without wrestling allows Dillan Johnson to change body

This offseason provided a testing ground for Dillan Johnson. As a former star high school wrestler, the rising sophomore often spent his winters competing in that sport and limiting his weight to 275 pounds.

This football offseason was the first time Johnson didn’t have to worry about his weight because of wrestling. As a result he started spring ball 19 pounds heavier than he was listed last season According to the roster, the Plainfield, Illinois, native was listed as 6-foot-2, 312 pounds at the start of spring ball.

He carries it well.

“Right now I’m shooting to be as lean as I can healthily,” he said, “305 and then at that point I’m focused on building strength, keeping quick and improving as a D-lineman.”

Ben Barten, a teacher in training, coach on the field

The Badgers’ defensive front was hit hard with transfer portal losses during the offseason. One of the players who decided to return was Ben Barten, a six-year player who is also wrapping up his teaching degree.

He is listed as 323 pounds, a 15-pound jump over last season, and has emerged as a leader in the room.

“The biggest thing with Ben heading into this is that he wanted to continue to put on mass … and then continuing for the game to slow down for him,” Whitlow said. “Obviously when you’re a guy who has played as many snaps as he’s played you become a coach in the field because you’ve been there, you’ve done it.”

Confidence isn’t a question

The Badgers’ top six on the defensive front so far have been Barten, transfers Perkins, Parker Peterson and Jai’viar Suggs, senior Brandon Lane and Johnson.

Also redshirt sophomore Jamel Howard has turned heads this spring.

The group is generating excitement inside the room.

“I just think we took our opportunities and ran with them,” Petersen said. “I just love how confident we play. I don’t think there is really any hesitation in the way we play the game.”

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Wisconsin

How John Blackwell’s game-winner happened, other takeaways from Wisconsin’s win

Published

7 hours ago

January 14, 2026

Press Room

How John Blackwell’s game-winner happened, other takeaways from Wisconsin’s win

Braeden Carrington’s hot shooting against former school helps Badgers fend off Minnesota

John Blackwell hit a game-winning three-pointer to give Wisconsin a 78-75 victory over Minnesota.
Guard Braeden Carrington scored a career-high 21 points against his former team.
The Badgers had to “keep fighting” after again falling into a double-digit deficit.

MINNEAPOLIS – John Blackwell imagined the moment for a long time, going back to his childhood in the Detroit suburbs.

“I always think about it,” said Blackwell, who grew up as a fan of Jordan Poole and Michigan. “I was doing the runaway. I’m running away from my teammates, trying to see if they can catch me.”

All he was missing was hitting the game-winner. Well, that was until Jan. 13 when his Wisconsin Badgers were tied with Minnesota with 4.6 seconds remaining. That’s when he pulled up for a deep hesitation 3-pointer and hit it to clinch a thrilling 78-75 victory over the Gophers – and celebrate like how Poole famously did eight years earlier.

BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 78, Minnesota 75

“Go get the ball, keep your head up and go get a shot up,” Blackwell said, looking back at a lesson he learned at an early age. “So that’s what I did. And then I just went to my go-to move, hesi-three. And honestly, it looked good when it came off the hands.”

The game-winning buzzer-beater – the first for Wisconsin since Bronson Koenig’s shot in the second round of the 2016 NCAA tournament – capped off a roller-coaster win that included plenty of ups and downs for the Badgers. Here are three takeaways from the win:

Why Wisconsin (wisely) did not use a timeout before John Blackwell’s game-winner

Wisconsin walked away from Williams Arena with a win while leaving two timeouts on the table. Greg Gard said he did not plan on using one on the last play “as long as we have enough time and it felt like we were in motion,” and obviously Blackwell proved that 4.6 seconds was enough time.

“Obviously we always talk about trying to advance it and shoot it with your momentum toward the rim. So as long as I felt he had some space – which he did, he had the defense in retreat, had them backpedaling – [we could] put the ball in your really good player’s hands and let them make a decision.”

The resulting shot attempt from that, Gard said, is “going to be as good as any shot you’re going to get.”

“If I take a timeout with four seconds, five seconds to go, they’re going to set their defense,” Gard said. “Each situation is different. You just read and kind of get a feel for what the floor looks like when the ball does go in. And if you can catch them on a scattered floor, that’s typically the best way to attack in those situations.”

Gard indicated he was planning to use a timeout after Nolan Winter’s pair of free throws with about 12 seconds remaining. But Winter missed both free throws, keeping UW’s lead at three and voiding any opportunity to call a timeout.

“I thought we played in retreat too much,” Gard said.

Then Minnesota’s Cade Tyson hit the game-tying 3-pointer that Blackwell memorably turned into a moot point seconds later.

Braeden Carrington provided game-changing spark in homecoming

Wisconsin guard Braeden Carrington’s return to Williams Arena featured anything but a warm welcome.

The Minnesota fans in attendance at Williams Arena immediately booed the ex-Gopher guard when he first came off the bench at the 13:33 mark in the first half. The Minnesota crowd continued booing him throughout the game when he touched the ball.

“If you’re going to boo me, I got to talk back,” Carrington recalled telling friends who still are at Minnesota. “I can’t just let it happen.”

Carrington answered the Minnesota-cold reception with some hot shooting that led to a career-best performance and undoubtedly changed the dynamics of the game. His 21 points came on 7-of-12 3-point shooting, and he was only one 3-pointer short of tying the UW single-game record. He also had five rebounds.

Three of Carrington’s 3-pointers were part of a critical three-minute stretch that drastically changed the momentum of the game. Wisconsin went on a 14-0 run – with all 14 points coming from either Carrington or Blackwell – to turn a 57-52 deficit into a 66-57 lead.

“We shot some heat-check ones,” Blackwell said. “But I think when we get good looks like that, me and BC are confident shooters. … BC had it rolling. And it’s my job as the lead point guard out there when Nick [Boyd] was on the bench was to try to find him, and he stepped up and knocked the shots down.”

Wisconsin ‘had to keep fighting’ amid another double-digit deficit

Wisconsin’s win at Minnesota, Blackwell said, “never was going to be easy.”

“We just had to keep fighting,” Blackwell said.

That fight helped the Badgers come back to win after trailing double-digits for the second time in a four-day stretch. After overcoming a 14-point deficit against then-No. 1 Michigan on Jan. 10, UW found itself in an 11-point deficit early in the second half against Minnesota on Jan. 13.

The big deficit appeared to have a couple culprits. UW did not score at all in the last five minutes of the first half and had four turnovers in the last four minutes of the half.

Even more noticeably, Wisconsin’s defense was lacking as Minnesota capitalized on several easy looks from close range. The Gophers scored 22 of their 35 first-half points in the paint.

“We just took it on the chin and got better in the second half, and we shut off the things that they were getting so easy,” Blackwell said. “We stuck to the plan that coaches set for us and then trusted each other at the end.”

The Badgers’ second-half defense still was not perfect. In fact, Minnesota averaged more points per possession in the second half (1.290) than in the first (1.167) although more of those second-half points were either from the 3-point line or free-throw line.

“We haven’t been perfect by any stretch, but we have grown in our connectiveness and in our collective fight,” Gard said.

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Wisconsin

Badgers top transfer edge target is heading elsewhere

Published

19 hours ago

January 13, 2026

Press Room

Badgers top transfer edge target is heading elsewhere

The Wisconsin Badgers transfer portal hopes suffered a blow late Monday night as Oklahoma State transfer Wendell Gregory committed to the Kansas State Wildcats.

Gregory, an All-Big 12 selection as a redshirt freshman in 2025, was one of the best edge rushers in the transfer portal and one of the best overall players available this offseason. He accumulated 32 pressures, four sacks, and 19 stops, while having a pass-rush win rate over 17 percent, a top mark in college football.

He had gotten significant interest in the transfer portal, including from Texas Tech, Texas, Missouri, Kansas State, and Wisconsin. The Badgers impressively got him on a visit to campus, but he ultimately visited Texas and Kansas State afterwards before committing to the Wildcats.

Gregory was the highest-rated edge transfer remaining in the portal, according to On3, and is heading to his third school in three years after transferring from South Carolina to Oklahoma State following his true freshman season.

With Gregory not heading to Madison, the Badgers are still in search of one more edge rusher that could help this team in 2026. Wisconsin did pick up a commitment from Arkansas edge Justus Boone, but he profiles more as a run-stopper on the inside at 6’5, 290 pounds, potentially filling the Darryl Peterson role.

They also got Tennessee freshman edge transfer Jayden Loftin, for whom the Badgers were a finalist in the Class of 2025, getting an official visit in his recruitment before he committed to the Volunteers. Loftin redshirted his freshman year, recovering from a torn ACL he sustained during his senior year of high school.

Those two additions join Sebastian Cheeks, Nicolas Clayton, Tyreese Fearbry, Micheal Garner, Jaylen Williams, Samuel Lateju, and Yahya Gaad as Wisconsin’s outside linebacker group in 2026 so far.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 results for Jan. 12, 2026

Published

1 day ago

January 13, 2026

Press Room

Wisconsin Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 results for Jan. 12, 2026

The Wisconsin Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Jan. 12, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from Jan. 12 drawing

05-27-45-56-59, Powerball: 04, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from Jan. 12 drawing

Midday: 1-6-6

Evening: 3-2-6

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from Jan. 12 drawing

Midday: 2-2-8-3

Evening: 6-9-0-3

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning All or Nothing numbers from Jan. 12 drawing

Midday: 06-09-10-12-13-15-17-18-20-21-22

Evening: 05-07-09-10-11-13-17-18-19-20-22

Check All or Nothing payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Badger 5 numbers from Jan. 12 drawing

14-16-21-28-30

Check Badger 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning SuperCash numbers from Jan. 12 drawing

07-09-25-32-34-35, Doubler: N

Check SuperCash payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

Prizes up to $599: Can be claimed at any Wisconsin Lottery retailer.
Prizes from $600 to $199,999: Can be claimed in person at a Lottery Office. By mail, send the signed ticket and a completed claim form available on the Wisconsin Lottery claim page to: Prizes, PO Box 777 Madison, WI 53774.
Prizes of $200,000 or more: Must be claimed in person at the Madison Lottery office. Call the Lottery office prior to your visit: 608-261-4916.

Can Wisconsin lottery winners remain anonymous?

No, according to the Wisconsin Lottery. Due to the state’s open records laws, the lottery must, upon request, release the name and city of the winner. Other information about the winner is released only with the winner’s consent.

When are the Wisconsin Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Super Cash: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 3 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 3 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 4 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
Pick 4 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
All or Nothing (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
All or Nothing (Evening): 9 p.m. CT daily.
Megabucks: 9:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Badger 5: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.

That lucky feeling: Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

Feeling lucky? WI man wins $768 million Powerball jackpot **

WI Lottery history: Top 10 Powerball and Mega Million jackpots

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Wisconsin editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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