From the two-point jumper made by Chucky Hepburn just 17 seconds into the game until John Blackwell’s extra points sealed the game with under a minute left in regulation, unranked Wisconsin kept the lead from Marquette for the entire 40-minute period of their Saturday afternoon bout. The Badgers handed the No. 3 Golden Eagles their second loss of the season, 75-64.
For a guard that’s averaged 6.9 PPG and shooting 30.4% from downtown, Max Klesmit played the best first half of his career, netting 5/8 of his three-point attempts, six field goals and going perfect from the free throw stripe. What’s more — Klesmit’s five triples (in the first half) were the only three-pointers that the Badgers made throughout the entire match.
WIS 36, MU 23 | 3:27 1H@maxkle2 simply can’t miss… pic.twitter.com/uYGWpnylbk
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) December 2, 2023
But the Klesmit breakthrough stopped there — Marquette contained the junior guard on the perimeter in the second half, holding him to zero points on five shots. Instead, forward Steven Crowl and guard AJ Storr did clean-up, each scoring nine apiece.
The Badgers also held Marquette to its lowest-scoring performance this year. Forward Oso Ighodaro was stopped at a season-low 5 points and guard David Joplin went a mere 1-9 from three. Wisconsin also out-boarded the Badgers offensively 15-7, defensively 23-16 and scored 24 of its points from the line (compared to Marquette’s 11).
Now, the Badgers shouldn’t be discounted this season, as their first ranked win this season actually came from No. 24 Virginia in November. And now they’ve won three in a row against the reigning Big East champs, which is Wisconsin’s longest winning streak over Marquette since 1998-2001. After this hefty win, fans stormed the court in the Kohl Center.
Storming the court after beating your rivals hits DIFFERENT ? @BadgerMBB
(via @CBBonFOX)
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 2, 2023
So hey, Klesmit. Whatever you’re doing? Keep doing it — especially with Michigan State and No. 2 Arizona knocking on your door in the next week.
