Badgers roll past Chicago State but lose Chucky Hepburn to injury early in second half

MADISON – Playing their final game before the holiday break, Greg Gard’s team avoided a letdown that sometimes strikes when playing a nonconference foe with a sub-.500 record.

Wisconsin got off to a bit of an uneven start Friday night at the Kohl Center but settled in, built a 15-point lead in the opening half and never trailed en route to an 80-53 victory over Chicago State.

"A very workmanlike effort," Gard said, "specifically defensively."

AJ Storr, leading UW in scoring at 13.7 points per game, scored 20 in the opening half and finished with a college-high 29 points. He hit 3 of 5 three-pointers and 11 of 18 shots overall.

"AJ obviously was really in a rhythm and feeling good offensively," Gard said.

Chucky Hepburn leaves with an injury but UW is off until hosting Iowa on Jan. 2

The lone blemish for UW was seeing guard Chucky Hepburn suffer an apparent groin injury just 1 minute 52 seconds into the second half after making a steal.

Hepburn was helped to the locker room but eventually returned to the bench wearing a large bandage on the upper area of his right leg. He finished with three points, four assists, three rebounds and one steal in 20 minutes.

BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 80, Chicago State 53

Gard said afterward the injury didn't appear to be serious and Hepburn hoped to be ready for UW's next game.

The Badgers (9-3) completed the nonconference portion of their regular-season schedule by winning for the eighth time in the last nine games.

UW is off until resuming Big Ten play on Jan. 2 against visiting Iowa.

Although the victory came over a Chicago State team that entered the night with a 7-9 mark, remember that the Cougars upset then-No. 25 Northwestern on Dec. 13 in Evanston.

The Cougars entered the night with a four-game winning streak, their first since the 2008-2009 season.

UW players and coaches wore special T-shirts to honor Walt McGrory, who passed away recently after a lengthy battle with cancer.

On the front of the shirts: A broken spirit doesn’t stand a chance. WALT STRONG.

Steven Crowl, Tyler Wahl help UW score inside

Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl gave efficient performances.

Crowl hit 4 of 7 shots and finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Wahl hit 5 of 7 shots and finished with 11 points and four rebounds.

Crowl hit 5 of 6 free throws and UW finished 20 of 26 from the line (76.9%).

"Getting to the free-throw line was important," Gard said. "Playing through the paint was important, given our game plan."

John Blackwell (six points, nine rebounds), Carter Gilmore (seven points, two rebounds), Connor Essegian (five points, three rebounds) and Kamari McGee (two points, one rebound) helped off the bench.

Max Klesmit entered the night with a combined 10 points in the previous three games and had hit just 3 of 14 shots in that stretch.

He contributed four points, five rebounds and three assists Friday. More important, he was the primary defender on guard Wesley Cardet Jr., who entered the game averaging 18.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and shooting 35.7% from three-point range for Chicago State.

Klesmit had plenty of help on Cardet, but the 6-6 junior hit just 2 of 14 shots in the opening half and finished 4 of 22. He had 10 point and six rebounds.

"Kles is probably our best on-ball defender," Storr said.

Crowl added: "We all know Klesmit is one of the best defenders in the country. That is why he gets the toughest assignment each night."

Max Klesmit's defensive work was critical

Cardet entered the night shooting 46.6% overall. He hit 13 of 21 shots and finished with 30 points in the 75-73 victory over Northwestern.

With Klesmit hounding him and getting help from his teammates, Cardet missed his first eight field-goal attempts.

Klesmit had faced Cardet twice during the 2021-2022 season. Klesmit was at Wofford and Cardet was at Samford.

"I had played him my freshman year so I had a little scouting report on him," Klesmit said. "But just making him uncomfortable in terms of doing things he doesn’t want to do or like to do. I knew he really wanted to try to get downhill early with that right hand. So just trying to shut things off like that.

"Guys who are good scorers…just throwing a wrench in their game is all you’re trying to do."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Badgers win easily but lose Chucky Hepburn to injury