Wisconsin
Takeaways from No.20 Wisconsin's 86-80 Loss at Illinois
Takeaways from No.20 Wisconsin’s 86-80 Loss at Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Eighty points should be enough to win a Big Ten game in the eyes of University of Wisconsin senior Max Klesmit.
The Badgers have shown they are hard to beat when they play clean basketball. The problem is Wisconsin is beating itself on offense, making winning much harder to come by than in November.
No.20 Wisconsin remains winless in December and the Big Ten, as Illinois extended its dominance over them to nine games with an 86-80 victory.
“If you are able to put 70-plus up in a Big Ten game, that should be far enough,” Klesmit said. “It’s early on still but we got a lot to learn in a little time to do it.”
Turnovers and rebounding have zapped all of Wisconsin’s momentum it built over the first eight games, causing the program’s first three-game losing streak in December since 1990. That team lost a fourth straight when it dropped a double-overtime game at Butler.
UW’s next opponent? The Bulldogs on a neutral court in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon
“We’ve got a lot of veterans in (the locker room) and a lot of people who have been through this before,” said sophomore Nolan Winter (team-high 15 points). “There’s a lot of leadership in the locker room. I wouldn’t say we were ever down. We’re looking forward to the next game, heads held high, talking through what we need to do better, who needs to be better, and in what areas.
“There’s a lot of leadership and accountability that took place. I think that’s good … We’re working through it.”
Here are my takeaways from the State Farm Center.
Wisconsin Not Playing Physical Enough
One of the key points the Wisconsin staff discussed in the scouting report was that Illinois was a heavy-volume three-point shooting team. The Illini ranked 353rd nationally in team percentage points from two (40.6 percent) but were inconsistent in tracking down misses. That wasn’t the case on Tuesday.
The nation’s 51st offensive rebounding team took advantage of the nation’s 154th defensive rebounding team to the tune of 15 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 second-chance points. It’s been a growing problem for the Badgers, which gave up 13 offensive rebounds to Michigan and 11 on Saturday at Marquette.
“Just not physical enough,” Winter said. “All across the board, from bigs to guards, we’ve got to be way more physical, more attentive, checking a body, and then going to get the ball. Actually, not just kind of checking a body and watching someone else go get it. We’ve got to be a lot better at that moving on.”
Illinois had nine offensive rebounds in the first half but was held to nine points, as Wisconsin was sound defensively in running the Illini off the three-point line and free-throw line.
The Illini’s six offensive rebounds in the second half stung because of the poor timing. UW gave up one in consecutive possessions that pushed a three-point deficit to seven. Illinois had two on two possessions, including one that ended with a tip-in by Tre White with 2:19 to go.
UW had just cut the lead to four off a Winter three-pointer, but that tip-in sparked a 5-0 run that the Badgers couldn’t recover from.
Winter led Wisconsin with seven offensive rebounds and showed flashes of being the mismatch forward they recruited him to be. Winter had eight points on Wisconsin’s first seven possessions of the second half. When he badly missed a three-point attempt, Winter chased down his rebound and finished through contact at the rim.
“He showed flashes of how good of a player he can be,” head coach Greg Gard said.
The three-point play gave the Badgers a 47-46 lead, but the Badgers went over three minutes before making another field goal. UW never got the lead back in part to five of its 12 turnovers coming after taking the lead. Illinois scored 14 points off UW’s mistakes, and in the third straight game, an opponent scored double-digit points off UW’s miscues.
“Turnovers are killing us, just giving them free possessions,” Winter said. “It’s kind of the biggest thing I’ve seen in the past three games. It’s killing us.”
Wisconsin Starters Struggle with Efficiency
Gard looked at Steven Crowl’s stats line and wondered aloud how a 7-foot center could play nearly 19 minutes and not finish with a defensive rebound. On a night where the inability to finish possessions with a defensive rebound was the difference, Crowl was the only one of the nine players who didn’t secure at least one rebound.
The senior was more aggressive than in past games, backing down Illinois center Tomislav Ivisic several times in the low post. Still, Crowl’s problems finishing around the rim continue to plague him. He was 2-for-5 on two-point shots.
“We know what Steve is capable of and we all believe in him,” Winter said. “We just need to see it out of him more often than not. We know what he can do and when he gets going it’s scary for the league. We’re all pushing him to be better. I know Steve and he’s going to play with more aggression. I know he will, and he’s going to be back to his old self.”
Gard thought the ball stuck too much with John Blackwell running the point and John Tonje probing in the first half, not moving the ball within the offense and over-dribbling. Blackwell played only 22 minutes and sat long portions due to foul trouble before ultimately fouling out in the final minute.
“We have to get more out of Blackwell,” Gard said. “We can’t have him sitting on the bench with two fouls.”
Tonje hasn’t been the same since he returned from West Virginia. Tonje is 18-for-50 (36.0 percent) over his last four games, including 8-for-26 in the last two. He also attempted only two free throws, his lowest in seven games.
“Some of that is because we weren’t moving the ball well enough to get him isolated and get some ability to attack,” Gard said of Tonje. “The other part is playing off two feet, things we’ve continually talked about.”
Bench Does The Early Dirty Work
Blackwell didn’t play the final 8:24 because of fouls, Klesmit joined him for the final 7:35, and Crowl finally started making shots before he had to sit the final 2:22. Throw in the fact that Tonje was 2-for-7 with two turnovers, and the Badgers trailing, 39-35, at halftime was largely due to play of their reserves.
Carter Gilmore and Xavier Amos took turns guarding and frustrating Tomislav Ivisic, who didn’t make a shot for the final 15:13 of the half. UW’s duo did more than guard. Gilmore hit his first three shots and was active in the low post.
“I think he’s giving us everything he’s got,” Gard said of Gilmore. “He’s really embraced and flourished in the role he has.”
Amos had five points and a chase-down block on Kasparas Jakucionis in transition. Amos logged 10 minutes in the first half after playing six in each of the last two games but was limited in the second half after Gard thought he tweaked his ankle.
“Xavier is continuing to learn as we go through this difficult stretch,” Gard said.
Jack Janicki hit Crowl for a layup at the left block on a roller and blocked forward Morez Johnson Jr. at the rim with his offhand. Seeing Janicki finish with three points, two rebounds, three assists to no turnovers, Gard said he’s got to get him more minutes.
The bench contributed 15 of its 19 points in the first half while Gard’s starters watched due to fouls.
“I have options. That’s the nice part about having a bench. I can lean into the bench a little bit more, which I did tonight, and I may have to do even more going forward.”
By The Numbers
4.3 – Crowl’s scoring average over the last three games, as the senior is 5-for-18 from the floor.
7 – Missed free throws by Wisconsin, the most in a single game this season. The Badgers’ 66.7 percent shooting from the line was also a season-worst.
9 – Wisconsin hasn’t beat Illinois since February 18, 2019. The Badgers’ average margin of defeat in those nine losses is 8.2 points.
14:42 – The Badgers were in the bonus after just 10 possessions in the second half. Wisconsin missed the front end of the bonus on the seventh and ninth team fouls.
6-to-1 – Assist-to-turnover ratio from Wisconsin’s four reserves.
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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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