Tag: max klesmit

Impressive Iowa State guard from state of Wisconsin enters transfer portal

Impressive Iowa State guard from Wisconsin enters transfer portal

The numbers in the NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal continue to grow,  and a Kimberly, Wisconsin, native from Iowa State entered his name Saturday.

After one season with the Cyclones, guard Jackson Paveletzke will head to his third school in three years. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound athlete averaged 3.4 points per game while playing an average of 10.5 minutes per contest with Iowa State.

What makes Paveletzke an interesting option on the open market is his freshman season with Wofford. In his first collegiate season, he averaged 15.1 points and 3.7 assists while shooting 49.3% from the field.

Considering Wisconsin has already reeled in one Wisconsin native from Wofford, Max Klesmit, Greg Gard and his staff could certainly revisit the well again this offseason with Paveletzke.

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Wisconsin basketball 2024 signee climbs high school scoring leaderboard

Wisconsin basketball 2024 signee climbs high school scoring leaderboard

Jack Robison, a Wisconsin men’s basketball signee, moved up to third on Lakeville North Basketball’s all-time scoring list following his senior season. 

The 247Sports three-star committed to the Badgers’ program on Nov. 11, 2023, after being recruited by head coach Greg Gard and assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft. The 6-foot-6 small forward visited UW five times from October 2021 to October 2023. 

The Lakeville, Minnesota native also snagged offers from Minnesota, Nebraska, Northern Iowa and South Florida. 

Robison’s high school is notorious for producing future Wisconsin men’s basketball players. Nate Reuvers, a member of the 2019 Big Ten title team, started over 100 games for Greg Gard. Fifth-year player Tyler Wahl and freshman big man Nolan Winter also donned the Panthers’ uniform before collegiate hoops.

Through March 15 of this past season, Robison averaged 21.9 points per game off 52.5% from the field. The future Badger could bolster Wisconsin’s wing next season alongside Max Klesmit and AJ Storr.

WATCH: Wisconsin G Connor Essegian predicted dramatic overtime win over Purdue

Connor Essegian had a crystal ball:

Wisconsin basketball’s 75-74 overtime win over Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal was one of the program’s best wins in years.

For me, it’s the Badgers’ best victory since Chucky Hepburn’s banked-in buzzer-beater to beat Purdue and clinch the Big Ten title at the end of the 2021-22 regular season.

IT’S BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest for a chance at $1 million prize.

The performance had everything. It had questionable foul calls on and against Purdue star big man Zach Edey, a dramatic overtime-forcing buzzer beater from Hepburn and a classic back-and-forth finish with Max Klesmit’s basket with five seconds remaining proving to be the difference.

The Big Ten Network cameras were predictably right there for all of the action. As released on X Wednesday afternoon, the cameras actually caught Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian saying “this is gonna be iconic” right before Hepburn’s basket and the ensuing heroics.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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WATCH: Matt Lepay calls the final moments of Wisconsin’s electrifying win over Purdue

Your reaction to Wisconsin’s buzzer-beating win over Purdue?

Wisconsin basketball put forth the effort of the year Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis. It defeated Purdue, 76-75, with a last-second shot in overtime despite the dominance of Boilermakers big man Zach Edey and nearly every Wisconsin big man having fouled out.

The win is significant for numerous reasons. First, the Badgers are on to the final of the 2024 Big Ten Tournament to face Illinois. Second, Greg Gard’s team is playing its best basketball at the perfect time and appears to have put its month-long struggles in the past.

Related: Takeaways from Wisconsin basketball’s heart-stopping overtime win over Purdue

One of the reasons for the victory today, and the general turnaround, is the stellar play of point guard Chucky Hepburn. His 22 points led the Badgers while his stellar defense on Braden Smith set up the team’s chance at the game-winning basket.

Wisconsin fans know what came next: Max Klesmit made a last-second bucket to give the Badgers an improbable and electrifying victory.

Here’s Matt Lepay on the call:

Wisconsin is back at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Sunday to play for the Big Ten Tournament title.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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WATCH: Max Klesmit’s journey back home to Wisconsin basketball

Max Klesmit is back with Wisconsin basketball

There are few reasons more important than Max Klesmit’s scoring surges as to why Wisconsin basketball has jumped to the top of the Big Ten and looks poised for a deep NCAA Tournament run.

The Wisconsin native has scored in double-figures in four of his last five games, including a pair of 20+ point performances in wins over Indiana and Northwestern respectively.

Big Ten Network took a look at how Klesmit, who grew up in Neenah, ended up at Wisconsin after not initially ending up with the Badgers out of high school. He is now as important a piece as any on a team poised for a March run:

Badgers drop a couple spots in the latest AP Top 25 poll

Badgers drop a couple spots in Top 25

After the Badgers men’s basketball team went 1-1 last week versus Penn State on the road (loss) and Indiana at home (win), they fell a couple spots to being the 13th-ranked team in the latest AP Top 25 Poll on Monday.

Wisconsin narrowly fell to the Nittany Lions 87-83 on Tuesday night at State College before getting back into the win column 91-79 over the Hoosiers at the Kohl Center on Friday night.

The Badgers entered last week as the 11th-ranked team in the nation, but they’ll now head to Minnesota for a matchup with the Gophers on Tuesday night at 6PM a couple notches lower on the totem pole.

Max Klesmit scored 20 consecutive points in the second half against Indiana and he’ll look to keep up his stellar play versus Minnesota.

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Wisconsin is now one of the best offensive teams in the country

Wisconsin is now one of the best offensive teams in the country

If someone read that headline at the start of 2023, I can almost guarantee they would assume it would be referring to the Wisconsin football team and Phil Longo’s air raid offense.

That is not the case. Greg Gard’s Wisconsin basketball team shot their way to a 91-79 win over Indiana last night, improving to 14-4 on the season and 6-1 in Big Ten play. Notably, the performance also thrust the group to KenPom’s No. 4 team in overall offensive efficiency.

The team is now ranked behind only Alabama, Purdue and UConn. Not only impressive given the company, but especially so given Wisconsin’s classic defense-first identity.

The Badgers average 1.14 points per possession and 76.5 points per game. Those two numbers may not jump off the page, but one must consider the context of the team playing at a slower pace — hence KenPom’s ‘efficiency.’

The excellent offensive season can be attributed to Greg Gard’s recent transfer addition of A.J. Storr, but also Max Klesmit’s breakout and the steady play of veterans Chucky Hepburn, Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl. Then add John Blackwell’s significant potential as a true freshman and the deepest bench we’ve seen the team have in years, and you get a dangerous offensive group no matter the five on the floor.

This may be Gard’s best shot at a Final Four yet.

WATCH: Indiana guard ejected for dirty elbow on Max Klesmit after torrid stretch

WATCH: Indiana guard ejected for dirty elbow on Max Klesmit after torrid stretch

Max Klesmit is playing out of his mind again. The veteran guard went on another white-hot stretch tonight against Indiana. Midway through the second half, he’s now up to 23 points on 7/9 shooting and 5/6 from three.

At first, the three-pointers were shades of Kyle Korver shooting over defenders. Then the ensuing dribble moves and crafty passes looked more like Klay Thompson during one of his hot performances. It’s become a true breakout month for the Wisconsin guard.

Klesmit’s dominance in the second half tonight was enough that upon returning to the offensive side of the court, Indiana guard C.J. Gunn threw a dirty elbow while the ball was being walked up the court.

The play was reviewed and Gunn was ejected with a flagrant 2. As many pointed out, he couldn’t guard Klesmit for the last 10 minutes so instead resorted to cheap shots.

Klesmit’s run in essence closed out the game after Indiana had cut the Badgers’ deficit to seven. Wisconsin went on an 18-2 run with the guard’s hot streak, and are currently in position to come away with their sixth conference win of the season.

WATCH: Wisconsin’s Max Klesmit does his best Klay Thompson impression

WATCH: Wisconsin’s Max Klesmit does his best Klay Thompson impression

Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit is on an absolute tear.

The veteran guard dropped 18 points including 2/4 shooting from three in the Badgers 71-60 win over Ohio State earlier this week.

Then today, he backed it up big time. With three minutes left in the second half against Northwestern, he’s up to 24 points on 9/12 shooting from the floor and 5/7 from three. There was a sequence earlier in the half that looked like a Klay Thompson sequence from back in his heyday: a big three-pointer, followed by a great defensive play, followed by another basket.

In a season with A.J. Storr, Chucky Hepburn, Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl leading the way, a jolt like that from a role player like Klesmit makes the team that much more dangerous going forward.

 

Badgers crack latest AP Top 25 poll

Wisconsin in top 25 for the first time this season

The Badgers men’s basketball team is out to a 6-2 start to the 2023-2024 campaign and they officially cracked the latest AP Top 25 poll Monday, coming in as the 23rd-ranked team in the country.

Wisconsin is coming off of a 75-64 win over third-ranked Marquette on Saturday at the Kohl Center, a game that they never trailed in. In that game, wing Max Klesmit scored a team-high 21 points while going 5-for-10 on three-point attempts.

Greg Gard’s squad has now won five consecutive games including a 65-41 victory over Virginia at the Fort Myers Tip-Off on November 20, who were ranked 24th in the country at the time.

They’ll be back in action Tuesday night on the road at Michigan State (4-3) at 6PM.

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