Wisconsin basketball took care of business last night in a 75-60 win over Jacksonville State. Needing a bounce-back from a historic loss to No. 1 Arizona and a tune-up before Big Ten play ramps up in the new year, Greg Gard’s team never trailed en route to the 15-point victory.
Steven Crowl led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds, Tyler Wahl added 16 points and seven rebounds and A.J. Storr had another good shooting night with 13 points on 4/8 from the floor and 5/5 from the free throw line.
Meanwhile, the other big story was the lack of playing time for Connor Essegian. The sophomore guard finally entered the game in the second half, but quickly was taken out after getting beat but a backdoor cut. Gard said after the game “Until they shove the dirt on me, I’ll keep coaching you and he knows I’m not gonna let up in terms of what I expect defensively.”
That is a situation worth monitoring as the season continues. It’s safe to say this Badger team has enough depth to get by without the shooting prowess of Essegian if that also comes with lackluster defense.
Anyway, here are the highlights from last night’s 75-60 win:
Top plays from tonight's win!
• Crowl: 19 PTS (7-11 FG) | 9 REB
• Wahl: 16 PTS | 7 REB | 2 AST
• Storr: 13 PTS (5-5 FT) pic.twitter.com/3syOi8wHDu— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) December 15, 2023