Wisconsin
Takeaways from Wisconsin's 103-88 Victory On No.9 Arizona
MADISON, Wis. – University of Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard knew the mindset of playing lockdown defense would have to take a back seat for at least one night. When he saw what was coming into the Kohl Center, Gard knew his Badgers would have to score – and probably a lot – to keep up with No.9 Arizona.
“They can score with the best of them in the country,” Gard said. “We knew that we were going to have to score to win. It wasn’t going to be one of them where we hold them to 65 points. We were going to have to put some points on the board.”
And score they did. Led by John Tonje’s career-high 41 points, Wisconsin never trailed and controlled long portions of the game on its way to a signature 103-88 victory over No.9 Arizona Friday night.
Wisconsin (4-0) rewrote numerous records with its point total. It was the first time Wisconsin reached the century mark against a Power-Four team since 1993 and the most points scored against a Power-Four team since 1975. Its points are also the most scored by a Big Ten team in a non-OT game against an AP Top-10 opponent since the 1992 Elite 8, when Indiana beat No. 4 UCLA, 106-79.
Here are my takeaways from what was a raucous Kohl Center.
Wisconsin’s Atones for Last Year’s Mistakes vs Arizona
There was a list of problems last season in Wisconsin’s loss at Arizona that was hard to pick one being the most offensive. In one night, the Badgers seemed to correct a majority of them.
While the Badgers still struggled to keep Arizona’s size and athleticism off the glass, Wisconsin did a better job on Arizona’s shooters, made the Wildcats’ perimeter shooting go ice cold, and didn’t play passively, attacking Arizona’s low-post defense aggressively and consistently. That lack of aggression at the rim resulted in only eight free-throw attempts. The Badgers settled for mid-range shots, didn’t finish on the limited chances they had up close, and shot 41.4 percent.
With new personnel on the roster and those returning having more battle scars, Wisconsin shot 48.1 percent, limited Arizona to 37.8 percent from the floor and 17.4 percent from three (4-for-23) and routinely drew whistles on drives into the paint.
It took Wisconsin five-and-a-half minutes for Arizona to commit two fouls last year. John Tonje equaled that mark in 67 seconds, all on drives inside.
“I always felt we were pretty efficient and diverse offensively,” Gard said. “We have a lot of pieces who can score.”
The Badgers’ ball movement was crisp, especially from Steven Crowl. While he only scored eight points on four shots, Crowl battled with forward Tobe Awaka (9 points, 3-for-8) and had six assists. He delivered the perfect bounce pass to John Blackwell (14 points) after he dribbled toward the middle to open Blackwell’s driving lane along the baseline and passed calmly out of double teams to find open cutters. UW finished with 17 assists on 25 baskets.
A choppy first half kept the pace slow, which was perfect for the Badgers because it helped neutralize Arizona’s speed in the frontcourt and allowed them to play a style not uncommon to them. Besides Jaden Bradley, the Wildcats didn’t have another player score more than seven points in the first half.
“We came into a mini huddle every time talking about we can’t control (the whistles) anymore,” said senior Max Klesmit (13 points). “We can only control what we control, and we can’t determine if a ref is going to call a foul or not. It’s the next play … The team that is going to complain about all the foul calling first is going to lose. That’s the team that is going to fade and give in. Our ability to keep our head down, not let outside noise infiltrate what we have going on, that’s a credit to everybody.”
Whistles were plentiful all game on both sides. Arizona was called for 32, Wisconsin for 31, and the two teams combined to shoot 87 free throws. UW went 41-for-47 from the line, tying a school record set in 1955. Arizona was only 28-for-40.
“They were in the bonus the whole game; that was tough,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “We got to play smarter. We got to play better. I warned our guys that they are adept at drawing fouls certain ways, and we just didn’t play smart enough.”
“I don’t love how the game is being called but that’s how the game is being called. Wisconsin was definitely much smarter in how they approached attacking the game, and their players adjusted to the new rules better than we did.”
While the Badgers saw Bradley take advantage of some of the same calls Tonje was getting, UW sent a steady stream of defenders at Caleb Love, a preseason All-American who hurt the Badgers with 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists last season.
Tonje, Klesmit, Kamari McGee, and Jack Janicki all took a turn against Love, who was limited to 12:40 in the first half after getting a foul and a technical for shoving Blackwell. He never found rhythm in the second half where he went 1-for-8 from the floor and 0-for-4 from the perimeter. When he fouled out with 4:57 remaining, Love had missed his last seven shots and scored six points on 2-for-13 shooting.
“We made looks hard for him,” Gard said. “He didn’t have many easy ones. That’s a credit to our players.”
During the brief time when the officials decided to tone down the whistles and let the offense flow, Wisconsin saw its lead evaporate. Arizona scored the first seven points of the half (all at the rim) and recorded its first 21 points either at the rim or on fouls from the paint.
UW had no counterpunch last season when Arizona’s 20-2 run broke open the game but responded aptly this time when the score was tied at 65. Locking in defensively to force a pair of turnovers, a travel on Bradley, and a three-second call on Awaka, Blackwell attacked the rim for a layup to retake the lead and hit Xavier Amos on the next possession for a three to push the lead to five.
The Badgers never relinquished the lead after that, but a 9-2 run a short time later pushed the lead to nine by the halfway mark of the half, where it mostly stayed.
“That showed me the guts and the toughness that is starting to develop with this group,” Gard said.
John Tonje Puts On A Clinic
Gard equates recruiting out of the transfer portal to speed dating, which means needing to analyze and make quick decisions before the player is on to the next option. When he started looking at Tonje, Gard bypassed the wing’s senior season at Missouri where injuries limited him to eight games. Instead, Gard looked back two years to Tonje’s time at Colorado State and saw glimpses of things that could benefit Wisconsin.
“That told me enough in the five minutes of film that I watched,” Gard said. “There was a lot there to work with.”
Tonje’s night was spectacular, yet not surprising considering how he plays. Starting with the opening two possessions, Tonje put his head down and charged right to the rim looking to finish or find an open teammate. With how the game was being called, Tonje got the benefit of the whistle a lot, drawing 13 fouls and making a school-record 21 free throws on 22 attempts.
“Our mindset mentality was just bring it to them and not let them hit us first,” said Tonje, as Arizona had started its first two games on an 11-0 and 13-0 run. “It really showed with how many times I got fouled.”
Tonje was 4-for-8 from two-point range but 4-for-6 from three, the most he’s hit in a game in 23 months. His 41 points on 14 shots represent the fewest number of shots for a player to score that many points since at least 2011.
“He’s strong, he’s a down-hill guy, he made threes, and he’s experienced,” Lloyd said of Tonje. “I’m sure he’s hungry. He was awesome … Dude scores 40 on you, you tip your hat to him.”
He was balanced across both halves with 22 in the first (the most by a Badger in a half since Brad Davison’s 23 in 2018), 19 in the second, and eclipsed his career-high 31 points with 9:16 left in the game.
“Last year was huge,” Tonje said. “I never had time to sit down and reflect on my game and what I wanted to be and where I can improve. I think it was great for me to learn the game, take hours of film, and self-reflection (to) figure out where I wanted to get better at and where I see myself going. As far as (coming to) Wisconsin, I wanted to be a part of a night like this.”
Unsung Heroes Fill In The Gaps
Amos impressed the coaching staff with his 12 minutes on the court Sunday, resulting in 10 points and six rebounds. The film was just as good going against Arizona’s length, as he chipped in eight points, two rebounds, and a steal.
The only redshirt freshman on the team, Janicki impressed during fall practices with his ability to create offense from his defense and hit outside shots. After failing to score in the first three games of the season, Janicki had nine points by covering a reverse layup at the rim after cutting hard to the rim, attacking the glass to draw a foul, and hitting three-point shots in rhythm
“He just plays the game the right way, and as you can see gets rewarded for it,” Blackwell said of Janicki, who also had two assists and one steal. “He plays the game hard, makes the right reads, and makes the open shots.”
With the number of fouls being called, Gard also called on Chris Hodges and Markus Ilver to log minutes late in the first half to try and get UW into the locker room.
By The Numbers
1.321 – Points per possession for Wisconsin, which scored on 55.1 percent of its possessions, including a seven-point possession in the first half.
15 – Wisconsin’s margin of victory was the largest over a top-10 team since a 67-49 win (18 points) over No. 5 Michigan State on Feb. 2, 2010.
16 – Arizona shot 4-for-25 from the floor (16.0 percent) in the final 12:31 of game time.
21 – Tonje posted a 21-for-22 clip from the line, good for the most makes in school history. The previous high was 17 by Dale Koehler (Dec. 6, 1975) and Nigel Hayes (Jan. 26, 2016).
41 – Wisconsin’s 41 makes at the line tied UW’s program record – 41 at Illinois, Jan. 1, 1955.
103 – Wisconsin’s 103 points were its most against a ranked opponent in program history. The Badgers broke the century mark for the first time against a ranked opponent since Feb. 10, 1970 at No. 14 Iowa (L, 100-119).
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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.
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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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