Wisconsin
Takeaways from No.20 Wisconsin's 83-74 Win Over Butler
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The Wisconsin DNR is reminding ATV and UTV drivers that more conservation wardens and county recreation deputies will be out this weekend.
The increase comes after new laws and regulations were put in place earlier this week.
Wardens and safety patrols will be monitoring risky behaviors, including speeding and operating while intoxicated.
Wisconsin has already seen 15 ATV related deaths this year.
Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.
Copyright 2026 WMTV. All rights reserved.
Just east of the Capital City Trail crossing at the Yahara River, a nondescript warehouse rises on Madison’s west side. Its blank exterior offers no hint of what’s inside, and even the interior is not set up for glass cases and museum spotlights.
But its more than 180,000-square-feet of climate-controlled space contains the largest collection of North American history outside of the Library of Congress.
In all, the Wisconsin Historical Society holds 3.8 million print publications, 25,000 maps, 3 million images, 125,000 cubic feet of archival material and 750,000 historic and archaeological objects. Most are stored in the State Archive Preservation Facility, including the original Milwaukee Brewers Racing Sausages, one of the country’s first weather maps, traditional Ho‑Chunk baskets and comedian Chris Farley’s football jersey from Edgewood High School.
It’s a largely unknown, certainly underappreciated, Wisconsin treasure.
The archives are managed by the Wisconsin Department of Administration and operate in partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Typically, history is presented in a carefully curated way – edited in a textbook, displayed behind a rope, maybe protected under glass. But the archives are an uncurated mix, and in many ways a more accurate reflection of the jumble that is human life than the single storyline we try to make it out to be.
Here, history feels human and unfinished. Every box, aisle and rack holds items that come to life when someone pulls them out and shares their story.
“Without the stories, the passion behind them, the experiences of individuals, it’s just a desk or a chair, but it’s the stories that are there,” said Nick Hoffman, chief creative officer with the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Preserving film history at 40°F
As the heavy doors to the “cold room” on the second floor swing open, chilled air spills out. The room’s temperature holds at 40 degrees Fahrenheit with 35% relative humidity – the ideal balance to protect film and videotape.
More than 44,000 film cans sit packed inside, and despite Madison’s distance from entertainment hubs like Los Angeles and New York, this is one of the world’s leading collections of film and television history.
More than 300 manuscript collections include materials from figures such as Michael and Kirk Douglas, Agnes Moorehead, Rod Serling and Edith Head. The shelves hold Mary Tyler Moore’s full archive, materials from early talk show host Faye Emerson, and footage of the McCarthy hearings later used in a documentary by Emile de Antonio.
The oldest film in the archives − “The Lumberjack,” a 16-minute silent film shot in Wausau − dates back to 1914.
Many donors have no ties to Wisconsin. What binds the archive isn’t geography so much as the pull to preserve a legacy.
“It’s often about an individual,” said Jill Sterrett, chief collections officer.
History written in ink on paper
One of the country’s oldest newspaper collections resides on the third floor, including a July 10, 1776, edition of The Pennsylvania Gazette, with one of the earliest printings of the Declaration of Independence, as well as Frederick Douglass’ 1850s newspaper, and the Cherokee Phoenix, the first newspaper published in a Native language.
The archives has the ability to bring people down to the individual level, then zoom out to show how an individual connects to a huge moment in U.S. history, Hoffman said. “That’s the scale that we have here,” he said.
In the early 1960s, for example, the Historical Society began collecting material from civil rights groups and activists, becoming a leading center for studying the American civil rights movement. Today, the archives hold hundreds of thousands of documents and recordings from the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee. Highlander trained activists like Rosa Parks to organize and educate people, especially on voting rights.
That training partly shaped Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man, which sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, said senior archivist Lee Grady.
One of the earliest weather maps by Milwaukee scientist Increase Lapham is also in the collections. Lapham made the map in 1868, reconstructing a storm from a decade earlier to show how weather patterns could be tracked. The map served as a proof-of-concept, Grady said, which helped prompt Congress to establish the National Weather Service in 1870.
The archives also have an ongoing, little-known interaction with the public. Grady said the Historical Society fields about 16,000 questions a year, mostly by email, on topics like land records, divorce filings, even whether a house is haunted. Family history requests are the most common, he said.
Racing Sausages, Freedom Desks, tribal baskets share space
About 100,000 objects share space in a cavernous room on the fourth floor.
The original, 7-foot-tall Milwaukee Brewers Racing Sausages tower around the first corner. Made with foam and rubber cement, they are being restored by the Historical Society before they go on display in the new Wisconsin History Center, which is scheduled to open in 2028.
Directly above the Racing Sausages sit “Freedom Day” school desks from Milwaukee. During Milwaukee’s 1964 “Freedom Day” boycotts, thousands of students left segregated public schools to attend alternative Freedom Schools in local churches.
Also on display are materials from the March on Milwaukee – the 200 consecutive nights of marching to protest segregated housing, led by the NAACP Youth Council and advised by the Rev. James Groppi.
Wedged in the middle of a nearby clothing rack is a bowling shirt from Earlene Fuller, a legendary Milwaukee bowler who became known for designing custom shirts, many featuring kente cloth and other African-inspired patterns. She broke down racial barriers in the sport, and was the first Black woman to bowl a perfect 300 game.
There’s also Rosie the Riveter coveralls made in Beloit and Jane Kaczmarek’s “Lucky Aide” smock from Malcolm in the Middle.
“These are telling the stories of everyday efforts to win World War II, to the stories that make us laugh,” said Leo Landis, director of curatorial services.
More aisles open up at the push of a button. Each aisle is arranged by when its contents were donated, a densely packed uncurated cross-section of memorabilia.
One aisle holds West Allis–born speed skater Dan Jansen’s Levi’s velour Olympic warm-up jacket from 1984.
A couple of aisles down are Ho-Chunk baskets, some that date back to the 1800s, weaving together more than a century of tradition.
Ancient canoes sit alongside the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile
Downstairs, in one of the unassuming basement rooms, it’s hard to know where to look first.
The tightly packed space holds the original Oscar Mayer Wienermobile as well as a Culver’s sign from one of the first franchises, made from a repurposed Ford dealership sign.
There’s also a Packers helmet-shaped ice shanty built by Bill Casper of Sturgeon for Tomorrow, a nonprofit that promotes sturgeon conservation and celebrates Lake Winnebago’s ice-fishing culture.
But one of the most striking displays underscores how history is still being written.
Two dugout canoes raised from Lake Mendota sit soaking in a chemical bath. Discovered in 2018 and 2022, they have been dated to roughly 1,200 and 3,000 years old.
For the past year and a half, the canoes have been treated with polyethylene glycol, a resin that slowly fills the cells of the waterlogged wood. In about six months, Sterrett said, the canoes will be shipped to Texas A&M to be freeze-dried in a giant chamber, drawing out the water while letting the resin holding its shape.
Sterrett said the canoes, along with others found in Wisconsin lakes, are reshaping what people know about the region’s past climate and how people lived on and with the water.
Authority, access, audience engagement
The Historical Society is no longer just collecting items. It is rethinking ownership, renegotiating who defines history, and in some cases returning pieces and material.
That shift is visible in the “repatriation room,” where desks and shelves made from Menominee Forest wood help ground the consultations between the Historical Society and tribal nations on returning cultural items. Repatriation has expanded in recent decades, moving beyond compliance toward collaboration.
More broadly, archivists are rethinking access and engaging different audiences.
The state archives already operates an inter-archival loan system across University of Wisconsin schools. The Historical Society now is working to move records, such as family and land documents, closer to the communities they are tied to.
Anyone can access materials at the Wisconsin Historical Society headquarters on Library Mall on the UW-Madison campus. But the State Archive Preservation Facility is generally closed to the public, with tours offered just twice a year and some items coming out only for special events. When the Wisconsin History Center opens in early 2028, many items from the archives will be on rotating display.
As the leaders of this repository look to the future, they are convinced interest in history hasn’t waned. The key is letting people know what Wisconsin has, and making it available in a way that makes the most of it.
And as always, sharing all those great stories behind the archives.
As Sterrett said, “The risks of not sharing are far greater.”
New history center will increase access to archives
The new history center, slated to open in early 2028, will provide unprecedented access to the objects, entertainment and print products housed within the archives.
The Wisconsin Historical Society broke ground on its new $160.5 million center in 2025. The five-story, 100,000-square-foot building on Capitol Square in Madison will more than double the exhibition space of the previous history center.
When it opens, the center is expected to welcome 260,000 visitors each year. It will feature three core galleries, a rotating community gallery, rooftop terrace, café as well as educational spaces.
Caitlin Looby covers the Great Lakes and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact: clooby@gannett.com. Follow her on social media @caitlooby.
Caitlin is an Outrider Fellow whose reporting also receives support from the Brico Fund, Fund for Lake Michigan, Barbara K. Frank, and individual contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
This fundraising effort is made possible through our partnership with Local Media Foundation, a verified 501(c)3 nonprofit organization (tax ID #36-4427750) and EnMotive Company, LLC, a subsidiary of USA TODAY Co., Inc. USA TODAY Co., Inc. is the parent company of this publication.
The JS Community-Funded Journalism Project is made possible through our partnership with Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association, and EnMotive, LLC, a subsidiary of USA TODAY Co., Inc. USA TODAY Co., Inc. is the parent company of this publication.
Manuel Franco claims his $768 million Powerball jackpot
Manuel Franco, 24, of West Allis was revealed Tuesday as the winner of the $768.4 million Powerball jackpot.
Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from June 2 drawing
15-26-43-48-60, Mega Ball: 12
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from June 2 drawing
Midday: 0-7-8
Evening: 8-5-8
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from June 2 drawing
Midday: 7-9-8-3
Evening: 4-4-7-5
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning All or Nothing numbers from June 2 drawing
Midday: 01-02-03-05-06-10-11-13-16-21-22
Evening: 02-05-06-09-10-14-16-18-19-20-21
Check All or Nothing payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Badger 5 numbers from June 2 drawing
06-13-26-28-30
Check Badger 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning SuperCash numbers from June 2 drawing
10-14-15-18-34-38, 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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