Wisconsin
Kamari McGee’s ejection fuels No. 16 Wisconsin basketball’s win at seventh-ranked Purdue
WEST LAFAYTETTE, IND. – The picture said it all.
Inside the Wisconsin locker room at Mackey Arena on Saturday the members of Badgers men’s basketball team stood around by Kamari McGee. Some had their arms folded. Others flashed the Wisconsin “W” with their fingers.
So often this season McGee has sparked the team though either his play or his attitude.
Saturday his teammates picked him up after he was hit with a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected in the first half of the Badgers’ 94-84 victory over Purdue.
MORE: Box score | UW schedule | Standings
“We were like ‘Hey bro, we’ll get this game for you’, when we saw him in the locker room,” graduate guard John Tonje said. “He was obviously having a tough time. Obviously he wants to be out here with his family.”
McGee’s ejection came at a critical point in the first half. Sophomore guard John Blackwell had picked up his second foul at the 6-minute 46-secon mark and spent the rest of the half on the bench. Graduate center Steven Crowl got his second foul 25 seconds later.
Immediately after that McGee was ejected.
The senior guard drew the foul with 6:20 left in the first half as he was chasing Purdue point guard Braden Smith. Smith came off a screen and took a handoff from 6-9 forward Trey Kaufman-Renn.
During the exchange, McGee collided with the 6-9 forward, his right arm catching Kaufman-Renn in the midsection/groin area. The foul was immediately reviewed and ruled a Flagrant 2, which according to the NCAA rule book means the contact was deemed “not only excessive, but also severe (brutal, harsh, cruel) or extreme (dangerous, punishing), while the ball is live.
There was plenty of disagreement over the call on social media, but that didn’t help McGee, who had to follow the rest of the game from the locker room.
“I haven’t seen the video,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “I didn’t look at it at halftime. I didn’t look at the board or anything, I was having more conversations about what had happened the previous possession on the other end when I felt like our guys were like bowling pins, falling down and getting knocked around.
“It’s within the rules (to make that call). This is a really hard game for any (officiating) crew. That is why we had a really strong crew on this game. It’s a hard job to do. But when they gave me the explanation that’s the letter of the law. Its not up for debate. We needed to move on.”
Wisconsin did.
In McGee’s absence redshirt freshman Jack Janicki received extra minutes. He played a career-high 17 minutes and scored a career-high 11 points while getting his most extensive in-game experience as a point guard.
After McGee’s ejection the Badgers closed the first half with a 14-6 run, cutting a nine-point deficit to one at halftime by scoring on seven of nine possessions.
The run set the stage for an explosive second half that featured 72% shooting and 58 points.
Perhaps it’s coincidence that the Badgers outscored Purdue by 17 points after McGee’s ejection. Maybe it’s not.
“Actually McGee getting ejected threw more gas on our fire and really united us,” Gard said. “I probably talked less in these huddles today than I have all year because they were so engaged and so instrumental and instructive with what they wanted to do and what they thought was working on both ends of the floor. I’m just happy for them because they bonded together.”
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
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School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
How Aleksas Bieliauskas has grown in first season with Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has high praise for Aleksas Bieliauskas about a month into the Lithuania native’s freshman season.
MADISON – One of Wisconsin men’s basketball’s departing transfers is headed to an SEC program with some connections to the Badgers.
Ex-UW forward Aleksas Bieliauskas has committed to South Carolina, he announced on April 17.
Bieliauskas left the Badgers after appearing in all 35 games as a freshman and making 28 starts. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 points in 20.2 minutes, and highlights of his freshman year included his five 3-pointers in UW’s upset over eventual national champion Michigan.
He’ll join a program with plenty of Wisconsin ties. South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 2010-17 on Bo Ryan and Greg Gard’s staffs. South Carolina assistant coach Tanner Bronson and director of video services Roman DiPasquale also are UW alumni.
Bieliauskas is the second of UW’s four departing transfers to commit to a new school. Reserve forward Jack Robison committed to North Dakota State on April 15. Starting guard John Blackwell and reserve forward Riccardo Greppi have not announced their next schools yet.
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