Takeaways from No.20 Wisconsin’s 83-74 Win Over Butler
A hard week of practice was apparently the ticket for the University of Wisconsin to return to the win column.
While not discouraged after three consecutive losses, the Badgers had a spirited week of practices and held themselves and others accountable for not doing the necessary things to win tight ball games against quality competition.
Whatever happened in the days following its loss at Illinois appeared to unlock what was missing since the calendar turned to December. No.20 Wisconsin never trailed in what was essentially a road game, playing complementary and fundamental basketball to register an 83-74 victory over Butler Saturday afternoon.
Advertisement
If Wisconsin plays like this the next few times it steps foot on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse floor, the Badgers will hoist a Big Ten Tournament championship trophy.
Here are my takeaways from Wisconsin’s third neutral site victory of the season.
Crowl, Winter Set the Tone Early
The thought of having two 7-footers in the starting lineup creates a matchup nightmare for Wisconsin’s opponents. It took 11 games, but it finally played out that way with Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter having their way with Butler’s frontcourt.
Advertisement
Wisconsin’s starting frontcourt combined for a season-high 38 points, as Winter’s career-high 20 points and Crowl’s slump-busting 18 points were the big tone-setters. The Badgers scored 40 points in the paint, 24 coming from the hands of Crowl and Winter.
Much of the talk involving Wisconsin the past five days involved the ascension of Winter and the descending play of Crowl. There’s no question that Winter is the future of Wisconsin’s frontcourt, a 7-foot big man who can score off pick-and-rolls, dribble drives to the rim, or spot up three-point shots. While his defense is still being polished, Winter’s offensive skillset and confidence is growing in his first season in the starting lineup.
“(The coaches are) giving me all the confidence in the world to keep shooting, keep attacking, keep doing what I do, just knowing my game,” Winter said. “(I’m) playing more confident just knowing I’m able to do some stuff that I maybe haven’t been doing recently.”
The opposite could have been said of Crowl, a fifth-year forward who had reached double figures in just one of UW’s first 10 games and lacked aggressiveness in both shot selection and rebounding.
Wisconsin’s first nine points came from post touches and started with Crowl. He backed down center Andre Screen and finished with a short floater after creating separation with a spin move. Winter was next after getting a perimeter feed from guard John Tonje, utilizing a pump fake and spin move to finish off the glass against guard Patrick McCaffery.
Advertisement
Tonje drew a three-point play against Telfort on the fourth possession and guard John Blackwell drew a double team in transition on the next trip down the court, allowing him to find an open Winter underneath for the easy lay-in.
Throw in Kamari McGee’s three-pointer when guard Kolby King was late on a screen, a result of Butler sagging in the low post, and the Badgers kicked off the game with a 12-2 run.
“You can’t flip a switch when the game starts,” Crowl said. “These last few practices we’ve really been getting into it and making a concerted effort to be aggressive as a team. I think the big thing is just being coachable, coming in every day, and we’re working our asses off. It paid off tonight.”
Fixing the Ill Wills of the Losing Streak
A theme emerged from Wisconsin’s first three losses of the season, and it centered around carelessness. The Badgers were turning the ball over at a higher-than-usual rate (12.7 per game leading to 13.7 opponent points), giving up too many second-chance rebounds (47 second-chance points on 39 offensive rebounds), and being susceptible to dribble penetration.
Guard Max Klesmit claimed they were all fixable mistakes, but something the team had to go out and show. UW managed to check off all three areas against Butler.
Advertisement
Wisconsin was whistled for a season-low three turnovers, an offensive foul on Xavier Amos in the first half, and bad passes by Klesmit and Tonje. Butler committed only six turnovers, further emphasizing how important limiting miscues were.
In addition to the three turnovers, UW had 19 assists. It was the first time the Badgers achieved that ratio since posting 22 assists with three turnovers in a 78-46 win at Northwestern on January 23, 2011.
“That tells you just the unselfishness and how the ball moved,” head coach Greg Gard said.
Offensive rebounds were a backbreaker against Illinois (15 that led to 16 second-chance points) but not against Butler. One of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, ranking 17th amongst all Division I schools with a 40.1 percent 3-point rate, Butler rebounded just five of its 29 misses that prevented it from getting its offense flowing.
While Pierre Brooks (23) and Patrick McCaffery (16) generated their offense, the Badgers were terrific defensively on leading-scorer Jahmyl Telfort, who was averaging 17.0 points per game, shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 45.7 percent from three, and registering 3.1 assists.
Advertisement
UW held him without a point or an assist in the first half and made him a non-factor at 3-for-10 from the floor, 1-for-5 from three, and only two assists on an eight-point night.
“All the guys that guarded Telfort, that’s a hard matchup because of his size and his ability to put the ball on the floor and is powerful enough around the paint,” Gard said. “They obviously go to him a lot. Nolan did a really good job. His size at seven feet is something I always tell him can be to his advantage. He can play with his length and guard smaller, maybe perceived faster guys. That’s a great experience for him.
“I thought Carter Gilmore was terrific on him, as well. I know we had Tonje on him at times, but it was primarily Winter and Amos had him for a little bit. An old player of his caliber (to go) 3-for-10, that’s a really good night. There weren’t many easy looks for him. We were able to exchange a lot of things … and make sure he couldn’t get down lane lines for the most part.”
Ending the Half with a Flourish
Wisconsin’s offense lagged after Crowl’s layup with 12:48 remaining, going 5-for-17 over an 11-minute, 35-second stretch. Unlike at Illinois, when UW got into the bonus early in the half but never fully took advantage, the Badgers never lost their lead due to going 14-for-14 from the line over a 12-possession stretch late in the half.
UW closed the half with eight points on its last three possessions, again because of Crowl’s aggressiveness. Starting with a catch-and-shoot three to make the score 42-33, Crowl finished off the glass in a simple give-and-go with McGee on a possession that began with UW’s point guard swiping Pierre Brooks.
Advertisement
Klesmit hit only one shot Saturday but his three-pointer beat the game clock to cap a 10-0 run and put the Badgers up 14 going into the locker room. Butler never cut the lead down past five points.
By The Numbers
1.343 – Wisconsin’s points per possession in the first half, as the Badgers shot 45.2 percent in the first half. UW shot 44.4 percent in the second half and finished the game at 1.258 points per possession.
5 – The Badgers had 5 players score in double figures – Winter, Crowl, Klesmit (11), Tonje (11), and Blackwell (10). It’s the second time this season the Badgers have achieved that feat.
5 – In addition to his 10 points, Blackwell had a career-high five assists with zero turnovers. Blackwell has scored in double figures in 10 of 12 games this season.
9.6 – Wisconsin lowered its turnover average to 9.6 turnovers per game. Entering the day, that figure would be tied for the best mark in the Big Ten.
Advertisement
90 – Wisconsin went 25-for-27 from the foul line, the third time this season the Badgers shot at least 90 percent from the line. The last time the Badgers made 25 free throws with 92 percent or better shooting came in a 25-for-26 (96.2 percent) effort in an 82-56 win vs. Michigan State on February 6, 2011.
_________________________________________________
*Chat about this article in The Badgers’ Den
*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel
*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)
DODGE COUNTY, Wis. (WLS) — Law enforcement officials are saying a Chicago-area woman’s claims of being detained for two days were a hoax.
A Wisconsin sheriff is now suing Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi for defamation, claiming she lied to the public last month, when she said she was held in the Broadview U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility and transferred to Dodge County, Wisconsin.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
“Sundas Naqvi was not detained by ICE at anytime. She was not transported to Broadview detention facility. She was not transported across state lines to Dodge County, by law enforcement anyway. She was not in the custody of the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Dale Schmidt said Friday.
Schmidt, in his lawsuit, outlined what he calls a hoax allegedly carried out by 28-year-old Naqvi.
Advertisement
Naqvi’s supporters spoke out last month, after the Evanston native claimed she was detained at O’Hare airport by Customs and Border Protection for 30 hours.
Her family said she was then sent to the ICE detention facility in Broadview and later taken to a facility in Dodge County, where they said she was released Saturday, March 7.
According to the lawsuit, Sheriff Schmidt says Naqvi was actually staying at a hotel near O’Hare and allegedly sending text messages from her room.
“She checked into the Hampton Inn and Suites in Rosemont, Illinois for the entire duration of this alleged event, traveled from the Hampton Inn and Suites in Illinois to the Holiday Express in Beaver Dam, (Wisconsin), was done to complete this hoax. She scammed a victim out of thousands of dollars in pursuit of this hoax against the federal government and the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office,” Schmidt said.
During the sheriff’s news conference, he displayed what he says are messages from Naqvi at the time she claimed she was in custody.
Advertisement
One message said, “going to look into this hotel” and “in the room now.”
There was also an image shown at the press conference, in which the sheriff says Naqvi was spotted at a store in Wisconsin during the time she says she was being held by Dodge County officials.
Sheriff Schmidt says this isn’t Naqvi’s first time lying to law enforcement. Court records confirm a 2019 case in which Naqvi filed a false police report with Skokie police, claiming she was sexually assaulted in a park. She pleaded guilty and did two years of probation, and the case was then dismissed
The sheriff is also suing Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morisson for defamation. Morisson held a press conference on behalf of Naqvi last month.
“Allegations of an illegal detention of a US citizen, allegations of a government cover up by federal authorities and the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office, coordinated messaging designed to generate outrage and media attention. Misuse of the system will not go unanswered. This is Dodge County, Wisconsin, not Cook County, and we will hold them accountable,” Schmidt said.
Advertisement
The Dodge County sheriff said while the situation is disturbing and defamatory, no laws were broken in Wisconsin. So they cannot file criminal charges.
Neither Naqvi nor her family replied to requests for comment.
Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison said, “It is my understanding that a lawsuit has been filed. I have not seen it. And if a suit has in fact been filed, I cannot comment on pending litigation.”
The Dodge County sheriff said Naqvi was detained at O’Hare by Customs and Border Protection, but for a little over an hour, not 30 hours as she claimed.
Customs and Border Protection said she was flagged for additional inspection based on law enforcement checks.
Warmer temps and storm chances build into Sunday and Monday
Advertisement
GET TO PLAY A PART TOO. THAT’S INCREDIBLE. I’M EXCITED. VERY, VERY COOL. STILL SOME RAIN A LITTLE BIT THIS MORNING AND I THINK IT MOVES OUT BY 7:00. WE HAD SOME IMPACTFUL RAIN OVERNIGHT. PARTS OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN, INCLUDING MILWAUKEE’S AIRPORT, PICKED UP MORE THAN HALF AN INCH. IT HAS BEEN A RAINY APRIL SO FAR. WE HAVE SEEN OVER FOUR INCHES OF RAIN ALREADY. WE’VE HARDLY STARTED THE MONTH OR A WEEK AND A HALF IN, BUT ON AVERAGE FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF APRIL, WE SEE UNDER FOUR INCHES OF RAIN. AND IT’S NOT JUST THE RAIN THAT WE’VE ALREADY SEEN. THERE IS MORE ON THE WAY. AS WE HEAD THROUGH THE SEVEN DAY FORECAST. THIS IS FORECAST PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE SEVEN DAY FORECAST. MOST OF THIS COMING SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. BUT NOTICE PARTS OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN. MOST OF THE STATE PICKS UP MORE THAN TWO INCHES OF RAIN OVER THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. WE’LL SEE ROUNDS OF STORM CHANCES AND EVEN THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER. NEXT WEEK. IT IS FORECAST TO KEEP A REALLY CLOSE EYE ON RIGHT NOW 41 DEGREES. SOME SHOWERS LIKELY STILL AROUND THERE IN PEWAUKEE. FROM OUR CAMERA AT WAUKESHA COUNTY TECHNICAL COLLEGE. THERE’S ONE MORE AREA OF RAIN THAT’S GOING TO MOVE THROUGH SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN OVER THE NEXT HOUR AND A HALF OR SO. THEN WE’RE DRY, BUT YOU CAN SEE SOME CLEARING BACK BEHIND THOSE SHOWERS. WE’LL SEE A LITTLE MORE SUNSHINE EVEN AS WE HEAD TOWARDS 8:00 THIS MORNING. TEMPERATURES WILL BE MUCH COOLER TODAY THOUGH, THAN THEY HAVE BEEN THE LAST FEW DAYS. WE’VE GOTTEN CLOSE TO 70 DEGREES THE LAST TWO DAYS. TOMORROW. TODAY WE TOP OUT CLOSE TO ABOUT 4850 FURTHER INLAND. SO LET’S GO DAY BY DAY AS WE HEAD INTO AND PAST THE WEEKEND CLEARING SKIES TODAY AND MUCH, MUCH COOLER THAN WE HAVE BEEN TOMORROW. WE SHOULD BE DRY JUST ABOUT ALL DAY LONG. THERE IS A REALLY SLIM CHANCE FOR A STRAY SHOWER DURING THE AFTERNOON. RAIN AND STORM CHANCES INCREASE DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. WAY WARMER ON SUNDAY WITH ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND STORMS IN THE FORECAST. BUT I DO THINK THERE WILL BE SOME DRY TIME ON SUNDAY. MONDAY THERE’S ANOTHER CHANCE FOR RAIN AND STORMS, BUT RIGHT NOW IT DOES LOOK LIKE THERE’S A LOT OF DRY TIME. ON MONDAY. WE SEE MORE STORMS ON TUESDAY, MORE STORM CHANCES ON WEDNESDAY, MORE ON THURSDAY. AND LOOK AT THOSE TEMPERATURES SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. AGAIN, I DON’T THINK ANY DAY IS NECESSARILY A COMPLETE WASHOUT. SO THERE SHOULD BE SOME TIME TO GET OUTSIDE AND ENJOY THOSE TEMPERATURES IN THE 60S AND 70S FUTURECAST HAS THAT LITTLE BIT OF RAIN RIGHT NOW. IT QUICKLY MOVES OUT. WE’LL SEE MORE SUNSHINE AS WE HEAD THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS TODAY AND SUN THROUGH A LOT OF THE DAY TOMORROW. NOTICE BY 3:00, MAYBE A FEW SHOWERS AROUND. THIS MODEL IS KEEPING SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN DRY, BUT IT’S OVERNIGHT THAT WE SEE SOME STORM CHANCES INTO SUNDAY MORNING. AND THEN WE COULD SEE A FEW MORE STORMS AS WE HEAD INTO SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WE’RE STILL A LITTLE FAR OUT FOR EXACT TIMING ON SUNDAY STORM CHANCES, BUT I DO THINK WE’LL SEE SOME DRY TIME TO GET OUTSIDE AND ENJOY TEMPERATURES IN THE 70S. THEN IT’S AN ACTIVE STRETCH THROUGH MOST OF NEXT WEEK. NO DAY LOOKS LIKE A COMPLETE WASHOUT, BUT ESPECIALLY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. WE’LL HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE STORMS HERE IN SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN. AND WITH MORE HEAVY RAIN ON THE WAY. AFTER A SOGGY LAST WEEK AND A HALF OR SO, WE’LL HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR RIVER FLOODING CONCERNS AS WELL. 48 DEGREES FOR A HIGH TODAY, BUT WILL BE WARMER, INLAND. WARMER INLAND AGAIN TOMORROW. BUT EVERYONE SHOULD SEE HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE 50S. THEN THAT ACTIVE STRETCH RETURNS TO SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN. DAILY STORM CHANCES. NO DAY IS A WASHOUT, BUT IF YOU HAVE OUTDOOR PLANS ON SUNDAY, KEEP AN EYE ON THE FORECAST. WE COULD SEE SOME IMPACTS. THAT 73, THOUGH LOOKING NICE AND QUITE A FEW 70S ON THE FORECAST. I KNOW. LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. IT’S JUST SO NICE TO HAVE THE WINDOWS OPEN YESTERDAY UNTIL THAT LAKE BREEZE KICKED IN AND IT DROPPED ABO
Advertisement
Spring warm-up and storm chances in SE Wisconsin
Warmer temps and storm chances build into Sunday and Monday
Updated: 6:12 AM CDT Apr 10, 2026
Advertisement
Editorial Standards ⓘ
Friday starts with a few early showers and sprinkles before skies gradually clear. Temperatures will stay on the cool side near the lake in the upper 40s, but inland spots warm into the mid-50s. Friday night turns partly cloudy and cool, with lows dipping to around 35 degrees.Saturday looks mainly dry with a mix of clouds and some sunshine with highs reaching the low 50s lakeside and upper 50s inland before rain and storm chances begin to move in late. Those storm chances stick around through Sunday and Monday, with a noticeable warm-up pushing highs into the 70s both days. Rounds of rain and storm chances are on the way Sunday through Thursday next week. Stay tuned to the forecast this weekend and next week, a few days next week could bring the chance for severe weather to SE Wisconsin.
MILWAUKEE —
Advertisement
Friday starts with a few early showers and sprinkles before skies gradually clear. Temperatures will stay on the cool side near the lake in the upper 40s, but inland spots warm into the mid-50s. Friday night turns partly cloudy and cool, with lows dipping to around 35 degrees.
Saturday looks mainly dry with a mix of clouds and some sunshine with highs reaching the low 50s lakeside and upper 50s inland before rain and storm chances begin to move in late. Those storm chances stick around through Sunday and Monday, with a noticeable warm-up pushing highs into the 70s both days.
Rounds of rain and storm chances are on the way Sunday through Thursday next week. Stay tuned to the forecast this weekend and next week, a few days next week could bring the chance for severe weather to SE Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill into law Thursday that legalizes online sports betting, making it the 33rd state to allow the practice.
But gamblers in Wisconsin will have to wait months or maybe even longer before they can start to legally place bets. The law Evers signed, which passed the Legislature with bipartisan support, requires the state to negotiate new deals with American Indian tribes that would run the sports betting.
Evers said he would not accept a plan that treats any one tribe better than another.
“The real work begins today,” he said in a statement. “Each of the 11 Tribes must now work diligently-and together-to shape the future of sports betting in Wisconsin. … An approach that exacerbates long-standing inequalities among Tribal Nations is not good for Wisconsinites or Wisconsin. I will not entertain it as governor.”
Advertisement
Gambling is legal in Wisconsin only on tribal lands under exclusive contracts between tribes and the state. Sports bets can currently be placed only at certain tribal casinos, and online sports betting is illegal.
Under the new Wisconsin law, online sports betting would be allowed only if the infrastructure to manage the bets, such as computer servers, is located on tribal lands in the state. That approach, known as the “hub-and-spoke” model, already is used in Florida.
Under the Wisconsin tribal compacts, a percentage of the money tribes earn through that gambling is returned to the state. In 2024, the tribes paid the state just over $66 million from revenue generated at casinos.
Evers said the new law represents a chance “to support mental health programs and to combat the opioid crisis, two issues that I know plague both Tribal Nations and communities across our state.”
Supporters of the measure include several Wisconsin tribes and the Milwaukee Brewers. They contend people currently are placing bets using offshore sportsbooks or prediction markets or crossing into other states where it’s legal, including neighboring Illinois.
Advertisement
The Sports Betting Alliance, which represents FanDuel, DraftKings, bet365, BetMGM and Fanatics, opposed the law. They argued that it wouldn’t make financial sense for them to partner with Wisconsin tribes, because federal law requires 60% of gambling revenues must go back to the tribes. They would prefer a state constitutional amendment opening sports betting to all operators.
Evers, who is not running for a third term this year, has originally said he would sign it as long as it had the support of the state’s 11 federally recognized tribes. But he later raised concerns because not every tribe was on board. Evers said Thursday that all 11 tribes are now in active negotiations over how to implement the new law.
Across the U.S., state-regulated sportsbooks handled nearly $167 billion of bets last year, generating revenues of nearly $17 billion after winnings were paid out to customers, according to the American Gaming Association. That marked an almost 23% increase over the previous year.
