MINNEAPOLIS â Wisconsin played Illinois neck-and-neck, but ultimately didn’t have enough firepower to close out the second half. The Badgers stood their ground in a shootout, but Illinois’ offense proved too much for Wisconsin to handle for a second time this season.
Here are my takeaways from the Target Center:
Wisconsin was right there with the Illini. The two teams traded blows into the late afternoon. Runs were answered by both squads; momentum swung both ways. But when it mattered the most, the Badgers faltered and Illinois held serve.
Down the stretch, Wisconsin hit just one of its final seven shots. Some of those were desperation shots with time winding down and Illinois up multiple possessions, but the Badgers didn’t have the same late-game magic they did against Purdue. In the closing minutes, you could feel the Illini running away with the game.
“Just come up with a couple more loose balls and rebounds today, one less turnover, two less turnovers and we’re in a good position,’ head coach Greg Gard said.
The margin for error was already incredibly slim against a team like Illinois, who can seemingly score at will. Thus, it’s no surprise that several guffaws cost Wisconsin severely.
Forward Tyler Wahl fouled out with 3:23 on the game clock after what at least appeared to be a clean block. The Badgers were forced to turn to Carter Gilmore in his stead. Gilmore started the game hot, scoring seven points in his first five minutes. Needless to say, Wisconsin missed Wahl’s veteran presence down the stretch.
After Terrence Shannon hit a go-ahead three with about 90 seconds to play, Wisconsin desperately needed to answer. AJ Storr flew down the court, but lost his dribble and turned it over,. Shannon ran the floor, got fouled and hit two crucial free throws. The late-game moxie simply wasn’t there.
Illinois has two of the best scoring guards not only in the conference, but in the nation. Shannon and Marcus Domask poured it on for the Illini; they were brilliant.
Shannon finished with 34 points, while Domask notched 26. Not only did they account for nearly a third of Illinois’ points, they did it with staggering efficiency. Combined, the pair shot 62 percent from the field, 57 percent from deep and 89 percent from the free throw line. That’s borderline unfair.
“Man, Illinois scores the ball at a high level. It’s hard to stop those guys,” Max Klesmit said.
Shannon is deadly off the dribble, terrifying in transition and an absolute sniper from long range. Domask, meanwhile, has the strength to post up most defenders, from which he has a dizzying array of post moves and fading floaters that reliably fall. They’re quite the handful, and arguably a tougher guard than any duo in the entire nation when they’re both clicking.
“He’s a tough guard, he’s a big guard,” said Klesmit, who was matched up with Domask for much of the afternoon. “He’s good with both hands, I was just trying to pick him up in the full court, make his life a little more difficult. Thought I did a decent job early on, but getting two fouls kinda hurts…He’s a really good player; you’re not gonna stop him. Just slow him down.”
“He’s good, he’s really explosive, he’s downhill and at ya,” Wahl said of Shannon. “Shot a lot of free throws today.”
Wisconsin handled Illinois’ other players well, but sometimes there’s little to be done against an offensive juggernaut like the Illini. There’s no shame in this performance for Wisconsin, but a failure to limit Shannon and Domask is undoubtably a major reason the Badgers dropped the title game.
There’s no moral victories; the Badgers were playing for a championship. And judging from how intense this game was, they wanted it badly. But even with the loss, a 3-1 showing in the conference tournament after a catastrophic collapse to close out the regular season is an extremely encouraging sign as Wisconsin turns its focus to March Madness.
“I’m so proud of these two guys to my right (Storr and Chucky Hepburn) and the other 15 guys in that locker room. We’re leaving here today a much better team than when we came in on Wednesday and started this tournament on Thursday,” Gard said. “We got to the game we wanted to get to, and we weren’t able to completely get across the finish line, but it doesn’t diminish the pride I have in these guys and how they’ve committed and grown over the last — you know, this whole season, actually.”
The Badgers kicked their competitiveness up a notch in Minneapolis. It resulted in a blowout win over Maryland, a convincing win over Northwestern, a thrilling takedown of Purdue and a razor-thin loss to Illinois. It’s hard to come away from those four results without thinking net positive.
“Like I said, you want to be playing your best basketball in March, and we are. Looking forward to these guys getting more opportunities to go show how good they are,” Gard added.
Of course, there’s no longer any time to falter. Wisconsin is back in the big dance after a one-year hiatus, still with plenty to prove. Wisconsin hasn’t made it to the second weekend of March Madness since the 2016-2017 season, and the Badgers drew a rather daunting first-round opponent in 31-3 James Madison. The Big Ten tournament allowed the Badgers to get their swagger back. They once again look capable of making a deep run in the NCAAs. Can they finally get back to the Sweet 16?
60 – Shannon and Domask combined to drop 60 points on Wisconsin.
35 – Each team shot the three at a 35 percent clip Sunday afternoon; both went 7-for-20 from deep.
22.5 – Storr averaged 22.5 points in the conference tournament after averaging 16.7 in the regular season.
1.431 – Illinois’ staggering points-per-possession.
10 – Wisconsin’s largest lead Sunday afternoon.
37 – Illinois’ total rebounds, compared to Wisconsin’s 30.
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MADISON, Wis. (Gray) – Wisconsin is working to assess damage from last week’s severe weather that brought extensive flooding, wind damage and 25 reported tornadoes across the state.
“We have pretty widespread damage, really in most areas of the state,” Greg Engel, a Wisconsin Emergency Management administrator, said.
As Wisconsin begins its path to recovery, Gov. Tony Evers is urging Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to start conversations with the Trump administration to “convey the importance of FEMA assistance.”
In a Friday letter to Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, Evers wrote, “It would be unfortunate if Wisconsin’s anticipated requests for emergency assistance are once again declined.”
The historic storms come after August’s thousand-year floods in Wisconsin, which particularly impacted Milwaukee. While FEMA approved homeowner relief funds, it denied Evers’ request for more than $26 million to support public assistance and hazard mitigation for six impacted counties.
Now, Wisconsin is still working to tally up the extent of the destruction from April’s storms. Some communities likely won’t complete their damage assessments until early next week, Engel explained.
Marathon County Emergency Management said they’ve already assessed nearly 150 damaged residences, and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson said recovery will be expensive.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that all those communities together will be millions of dollars worth of damage,” Nelson said.
After the end of these severe weather events, Evers will have 30 days to submit an application to FEMA for federal assistance. Engel said they’re working to collect as much information as they can for their report and will continue to provide resources for recovering communities.
A White House official said they “continue to monitor forecasted weather and flooding that is affecting Wisconsin.”
If you are an impacted homeowner, Rock County is encouraging homeowners to contact their insurance early, start a claim, ask what they are required to do or not do, ask about temporary housing or emergency coverage and not throw out major items until approved.
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Copyright 2026 WMTV. All rights reserved.
Wisconsin Lutheran High School basketball star Zavier Zens has officially committed to play for the University of Illinois next season.
Zens, a tenacious 6-foot-7, 215-pound senior forward, initially committed to play collegiately for Northern Iowa but reopened his recruitment as the result of a head coaching change, ultimately narrowing his final choices to Illinois, Utah State, and Wisconsin.
On April 17, the highly touted three-star recruit signed a Big Ten Conference Athletics Scholarship Agreement to compete for Illinois, ending the greatly anticipated recruitment journey.
“What I was looking for was the best chance to develop and become the best player I can become,” said Zens, in an interview with Zac Bellman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Illinois, they arguably have the best team in the country coming in next year, and the chance to get to go up against them every day, along with the good development program and their record of developing guys, was really big to me. Obviously, the fit and culture was right as well.”
Illinois tied for second in the Big Ten Conference under the guidance of head coach Brad Underwood, advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four for the first time in 21 years (2005), and finished with a 28-9 overall record.
“Zavier first and foremost is a winner,” said Underwood, in an official release posted on fightingillini.com. “He is an extremely high IQ player who has been well coached and brings a championship pedigree to the table, winning three straight state titles. He fits our recruiting mold as a 6-foot-7 versatile wing who can score at all three levels and process the game.”
Zens averaged 23.4 points per game (including a 61.8% field-goal percentage) with 5.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists this season in leading the Vikings to a third consecutive WIAA state championship and statement-making 30-0 overall record.
Wisconsin’s Mr. Basketball contributed 20 points with four 3-point baskets, six rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots, and one steal as top-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran defeated third-seeded Madison Memorial 57-37 in the WIAA Division 1 state championship game at the University of Wisconsin’s Kohl Center on March 21.
The 2026 Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year finished his memorable four-year high school career with a 109-7 overall record (including an 88-2 mark during the three-year championship run) and as the third-leading scorer in program history (1,611 points).
In an interesting twist, Zens (a cousin of NBA rookie sensation Kon Knueppel who competes for the Charlotte Hornets) joins an elite group of seven recent Wisconsin Mr. Basketball recipients who opted to play out of state.
Wisconsin, under current head coach Greg Gard, has advanced to the NCAA Tournament eight times, with the fifth-seeded Badgers most recently falling to No. 12-seeded High Point 83-82 in this year’s opening round on March 19.
The impressive list of Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association honorees includes:
— Jeff Hagenau | jeffreyhagenau@gmail.com
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WISCONSIN (WBAY) – Wisconsin residents contributed more than $36 million in marijuana taxes to Illinois last year and nearly $6 million to Michigan in 2024, according to new numbers released by the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
The revenue comes from counties bordering Wisconsin that legally sell marijuana, while bills to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana remain stalled in the Wisconsin Legislature.
Wisconsin will have a new governor, new speaker in the Assembly and a new majority leader in the state Senate next January.
All three people holding those leadership positions decided not to seek re-election.
State lawmakers will have a fresh debate regarding marijuana for the first time in a while, and the latest numbers from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau are likely to be a big part of it.
On the Wisconsin border, from Michigan to Illinois, marijuana sales have become big business.
“The economic value to restoring this plant back to our economy is huge. We can’t even put a dollar amount on it,” said Jay Selthofner, founder of the Wisconsin Cannabis Activist Network.
According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo, Wisconsin residents contributed $36.1 million last year to the overall marijuana tax collected by Illinois.
That’s based on data from 36 dispensaries located in five of the six counties bordering Wisconsin. Jo Daviess, Lake, McHenry, Winnebago and Boone counties have dispensaries, while Stephenson County does not.
Among the five counties with dispensaries, a total of $319.4 million in sales was generated. The report concludes $132.4 million, or 41.5%, of these sales were made to out-of-state residents.
“It’s concerning that yeah, revenue is leaving the state both tax wise and tourism dollars without being a state that is looked at as recreational marijuana, we’re losing some tourism there,” Selthofner said.
On the other side of the state, Michigan is making money off Wisconsin residents.
The most recent data from 2024 shows the state with 854 retailers and microbusinesses licensed to sell cannabis. Of those licensees, 22 were located in counties bordering Wisconsin: Gogebic, Iron, Dickinson and Menominee.
The report states, “Assuming that each retailer/microbusiness makes an equal amount of sales,” those businesses in the Upper Peninsula brought in $85.4 million. Using the same estimate as Illinois, 41.5% of sales came from Wisconsin residents, translating into $5.8 million in tax revenue collected.
Minnesota is also mentioned in the report. The state began legalized cannabis sales in September 2025, but so far there is no data on taxes paid by Wisconsin residents.
If Wisconsin makes changes, it’s likely to be next year after the November election.
Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany said he is open to medical marijuana and supporting veterans.
“I think in particular we should look out for our veterans. I’ve heard from so many veterans that suffer from PTSD and I’m very open to that as well as medicinal. I think we just work our way through it and get to a good spot in regards to marijuana,” Tiffany said.
Among the Democrats running for governor, at least seven have come out supporting efforts to legalize marijuana, aligning with the state party platform.
“A lot of people look at it as the wild west right now here in Wisconsin, it’s not. It’s the wild Wisconsin and what Wisconsin is going to do is it’s going to show the rest of the country how innovative a state can really be on cannabis,” Selthofner said.
Twenty-four states, along with the District of Columbia, legalize recreational marijuana, and 40 total legalize medical marijuana. The most recent additions are Ohio, Minnesota and Missouri.
Copyright 2026 WBAY. All rights reserved.
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