Tag: max klesmit

RECAP: Wisconsin basketball beats Holy Cross in season opener

RECAP: Wisconsin basketball beats Holy Cross in season opener

The Wisconsin Badgers opened their season with an 85-61 win over Holy Cross at the Kohl Center on Nov. 4.

In his Badger debut, transfer guard John Tonje captained scoring duties with 23 points and corralled five rebounds. Sophomore center Nolan Winter shot a perfect 6-6 from the field for 15 points and snared a game-high eight rebounds, and sophomore guard John Blackwell registered 16 points and four boards as well.

Wisconsin utilized the exact same starting lineup vs. Holy Cross as it did in its scrimmage against UW-River Falls:

G: John Blackwell

G: Max Klesmit

G: John Tonje (transfer)

F: Nolan Winter

C: Steven Crowl

While the final score suggests a wire-to-wire domination, UW’s first half output said otherwise. After veteran center Steven Crowl nailed his first 3FG of the season, Holy Cross wing Gabe Warren scored 11 points to push the Crusaders ahead 13-3 within the first four minutes.

He and forward Caleb Kenney would maintain the pressure to bring the Holy Cross edge to 23-7 at the 11:54-minute mark. Tonje and Blackwell would help UW regain control, however, as they combined for 20 first-half points at intermission.

After sparring with Holy Cross for the first stanza of the second half, the Badgers surged offensively. Tonje and Blackwell picked up right where they left off; the duo scored 14 of UW’s first 22 second half tallies to make it 59-46 Wisconsin with just under 10 minutes to spare.

From then on, Winter handled virtually all the scoring duties for the Badgers. The 7-footer shined with 13 points in the final six minutes and showcased his range with two 3FG.

As a team, Wisconsin shot 49.2% from the field, 35.5% from outside and a perfect 16-16 from the charity stripe. Wisconsin out-rebounded Holy Cross 38-21 and scored 18 more points in the paint.

With both Crowl and Winter down low, UW poses a challenging matchup for any team without size. Against Holy Cross, a team without a 7-footer on its 2024-25 roster, there’s no denying that the Badgers entered the game with a clear advantage,

Still, the story was the play from Tonje. A capable shooter and veteran presence in UW’s locker room, it appears as if head coach Greg Gard will lean on the former Missouri and Colorado State hooper to pick up some of the scoring slack after AJ Storr transferred to Kansas.

Guard Kamari McGee also looked sharp. In 27 minutes off the bench, the senior logged 7 points and four assists as the pilot of Wisconsin’s second unit.

Wisconsin now moves to 9-0 in season openers under Gard. The Badgers will be back in action on Thursday, Nov. 9, vs. Montana State at the Kohl Center.

Sights and sounds from Wisconsin Badgers at 2024 Big Ten Basketball media days

Sights and sounds from Wisconsin Badgers at 2024 Big Ten Basketball media days

Wisconsin basketball was well represented at the 2024 Big Ten Basketball media days on Thursday, Oct. 3.

Head coach Greg Gard, sophomore guard John Blackwell, senior center Steven Crowl and senior guard Max Klesmit made the trek to Chicago, Illinois to represent the Badgers this week.

The group participated in several hits for Big Ten Network, spanning from short social media videos to entertain badger faithful and panel discussions about the team this coming season.

While Blackwell, Gard and Klesmit were present at the Big Ten Network studio set, Blackwell fielded a question about Klesmit being the top trash talker on the 2024 team.

Here’s what he and Gard had to say:

UW’s representatives also participated in individual interviews and photo ops during their time in Chicago.

Before the media day appearance, Wisconsin was ranked No. 12 alongside   Nebraska by the Big Ten media on Wednesday. Given the departures of guard Chucky Hepburn, wing AJ Storr and veteran Tyler Wahl, Wisconsin finds itself in its typical preseason position: underrated.

The Badgers will kick-start its loaded 2024-25 schedule with an exhibition game against UW-River Falls on Oct. 30 and look to build off its 22-14 output and first-round loss in the 2024 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament a season ago.

Wisconsin men’s basketball releases 2024 non-conference schedule

Wisconsin men’s basketball releases 2024 non-conference schedule

The Wisconsin Badgers’ men’s basketball program released its 2024 non-conference schedule on Thursday.

Greg Gard’s group will open the season against Holy Cross on Nov. 4 at the Kohl Center. The Badgers will follow their first regular season match with four consecutive non-conference home contests in Madison.

Montana State (Nov. 7), Appalachian State (Nov. 10), Arizona (Nov. 15) and UT-Rio Grande Valley (Nov. 18) will each venture to Wisconsin in the opening month of the 2024 season.

The first-ever Greenbrier Tip-Off follows the local action shortly thereafter. Wisconsin will face UCF and either LSU or Pittsburgh on Nov. 22 and Nov. 24, respectively.

A quick Kohl Center tune-up vs. Chicago State on Nov. 30 follows before UW makes its way to Milwaukee for its annual I-94 rivalry game against Marquette on Dec. 7.

The final roadblock arrives during the recently announced Dec. 14 match against Butler at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the Indiana Pacers. The Detroit Mercy Titans will also play Wisconsin at home on Dec. 22.

On top of the non-conference campaign, which figures to be one of the more challenging slates across the college basketball landscape, Wisconsin will also face a bevy on conference opponents in Madison and across the country.

UW will host 10 Big Ten opponents this season and travel to Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Rutgers and USC for road conference games.

Prior to the chaos, Wisconsin will play host to UW-River Falls in an exhibition on Oct. 30 at home.

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.