NFL
By: Melo Williams
Wisconsin Badgers (1-0) men’s basketball team opened up the 2023-2024 season with a convincing victory over Arkansas State Red Wolves (0-1) 105-76.
Wisconsin jumped out to a 9-0 lead over the Red Wolves to start the game. As the game went on in the first half Badgers transfer AJ Storr didn’t waste any time making his presence felt.
Storr started the game off hot. Early on in the game, Storr was outscoring Arkansas State himself 9-8 with a 16-8 Wisconsin lead while the Badgers never trailed in the game.
AJ Storr led Wisconsin in scoring at halftime with 11 Pts shooting 4-8 from the field.
Chucky Hepburn led the way for the Badgers with 20 points (7-10 FG), 2-3 3PT FG, one rebound, six assists, and three steals.
The Badgers also got major contributions with double figures scoring from AJ Storr (15 points), Max Klesmit (14 points), and John Blackwell (12 points).
Tyler Wahl finished with eight points (4-for-5 FG), and Steven Crowl contributed nine points, four assists, and three rebounds. Nolan Winter scored six points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds off the bench for the Badgers.
Badgers head coach Greg Gard wasted no time giving out playing time as 12 Badgers players got into the game in the first half as 12 players also scored for Wisconsin.
Chucky Hepburn and Max Klesmit set the tone for the defense immediately with their on-ball defense on Arkansas State guards creating turnovers that led to fastbreak points for the Badgers.
I asked Badgers head coach Greg Gard about his thoughts on Hepburn and Klesmit’s defense…
Following last night’s victory @_melowilliams asked @BadgerMBB head coach, Greg Gard about the defense of Chucky Hepburn & Max Klesmit. (? via @UWBadgers) @MaxKle2 @ChuckyHepburn #B1G #CollegeBasketball pic.twitter.com/odmVwztHjF
— TEAM NBS Media (@TeamNBSMedia) November 7, 2023
UW forced the Red Wolves into 17 turnovers and held them to 40.7 percent shooting.
Chucky Hepburn was the star of the night playing the point guard position magnificently. In the first half, Hepburn had six pts, two assists, two steals, and zero turnovers.
In the second half, Hepburn delivered on the offensive end with 14 points while dropping four assists.
With Hepburn playing at an elite level at the point guard position, Wisconsin will be tough to deal with in the Big Ten.
This Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team is big and has depth. Wisconsin finished the game with 39 points from the reserves. Last season the most points Greg Gard got from his reserves was 24 points vs. Dayton.
The depth Wisconsin has is mixed with upperclassmen, sophomores, and freshmen with Tyler Wahl being the elder statesmen.
Experience is priceless and Wisconsin has that experience as it returns all five starters and 92% of its scoring from last year’s team that advanced to the NIT semifinals, the most of any major conference team in the country.
Greg Gard will be able to lean on Wahl, Crowl, Hepburn, and Klesmit to lead the Badgers when leadership is needed on the court during situational basketball in critical moments.
That depth and experience will be tested early when Wisconsin returns to action on Friday night hosting No. 9 Tennessee.
This will mark the first time that a Wisconsin men’s basketball has faced an AP Top 10 team at home in November.
Tip is set for 8 p.m. CT at the Kohl Center.
Overtime Facts:
• Wisconsin set a new Kohl Center record for most points in a single game with 105. Kansas held the previous Kohl Center record with a 104-86 win over Oregon in the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
• The last time UW scored 100 points or more in its season opener was vs. the University of Milwaukee in 1993 when they scored 106 points.
• Wisconsin improved to 25-1 all-time in season openers at the Kohl Center and 7-1 in season openers under head coach Greg Gard.
Follow Melo on X and Instagram: @_MeloWilliams
