Wisconsin’s first turn on the Big Ten Network came with no drama at all, and that was the point. The Badgers jumped Fairfield right away, ripping off a 22-0 start and never letting the game get anywhere close. With the outcome settled early, Greg Gard had the freedom to spread minutes around and start sorting out how his rotations might fit together.
The cleanest takeaway from the night is that Wisconsin finally looked like a team with some rhythm. For much of the season, the defense has been ahead of the offense, and the flow just hasn’t been there.
That has put a heavy burden on Owen Foxwell to carry the load. Against Fairfield, though, the Badgers found something that had been missing: the offense and defense actually moved together.
That doesn’t mean it was spotless. Wisconsin still coughed it up 16 times and gave up 23 offensive rebounds, and those are the kinds of issues Gard will want fixed quickly. But getting out to that kind of start matters, especially for a team trying to find its identity.
Nolan Winter, meanwhile, is still searching for his own. The questions around him aren’t going away.
He has been given the benefit of the doubt because he missed the offseason while recovering from surgery, but that explanation only goes so far. Against Fairfield, it was the kind of matchup where Wisconsin needed him to settle in, and it still didn’t happen.
Winter played 17 minutes and finished with two points on 1-for-4 shooting. He added five rebounds, a block, and one turnover.
On paper, it’s not disastrous. But with the expectations attached to him, it reads like another missed chance.
One of the more interesting developments came off the bench, where Jackson Ball may be carving out the most trust among the reserve guards. He logged 19 minutes and made the most of them by bringing the kind of hustle that tends to catch Gard’s eye. He didn’t stuff the box score, but he was constantly around the action.
The rest of the guard rotation followed behind him: Kinziger played 16 minutes, Janicki 15, Trey Autry 10, and Hayden Jones only five. That last number stands out a bit, especially since Jones seemed to earn more trust as last season went on.
This year, he looks more buried. The game was out of hand, so the minutes may not mean much in the long run, but it did feel like Gard wanted a longer look at Ball.
Wisconsin also got two very different looks from Austin Rapp and Victory Onuetu. Onuetu started again and made his presence felt on defense, where Fairfield had a hard time getting through him. He finished with zero points, eight rebounds, one assist, and one block, and the stat line says plenty about the kind of role he can play.
Rapp brought the scoring punch. He had 15 points, hit 3 of 7 from deep, and grabbed six rebounds. He wasn’t as sturdy on the defensive end, but he gave the Badgers a real threat as a scorer.
That gives Gard options. Depending on what Wisconsin needs and what kind of look an opponent presents, he has two forwards who can tilt the game in very different ways.
In Other News...
Wisconsin Recruiting Loss Just Got More Painful For Badgers Fans
Wisconsins 2027 basketball class took a hit when Jack Thelen, the 7-foot-1 center who had previously pledged to the Badgers, backed off that commitment and landed at UConn instead. Thelen, ranked No. 88 nationally in the class by Rivals, had given Wisconsin a promising frontcourt piece for the future, and his departure changes the look of an early group that had already started to take shape.
The Badgers still have two four-star guards committed in the class, so the foundation is not gone, but losing a big man of Thelens size and profile stings. It also adds another layer to the challenge of holding off blueblood-level competition, with UConn continuing to build one of the nations strongest classes and sitting No. 2 nationally on 247Sports. [Read more 🡒]
Racine Case Just Ended A Drought Wisconsin Fans Will Appreciate
Racine Case gave Wisconsin high school football fans a familiar kind of thrill with a finish that came down to the final kick. Senior kicker Colin Gardner drilled a 28-yard field goal as time expired to lift Case past Muskego 6-3 in the WIAA Division 1 state quarterfinals, sending the team on to the state semifinals against West De Pere.
For a program with a long history but a long wait, the moment carried extra weight. Racine Case is headed to the state semifinals for the first time since 1980, ending a 46-year drought and giving its supporters a milestone they had waited generations to see. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Has A Nolan Winter Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Nolan Winters start to the 2026-27 season has been quieter than Wisconsin fans are used to seeing from the senior big man. His numbers are down across the board, and his shooting has not matched the efficiency he typically brings, even though he is still helping the Badgers with rebounding, passing and rim protection.
The bigger question for Wisconsin is what comes next, because Winters value has not disappeared, it has just been uneven so far. If the Badgers can get him more involved offensively and he continues to move past whatever has slowed him early, there is still a path for him to look more like the player Wisconsin needs in the frontcourt. [Read more 🡒]