Wisconsin basketball completed their non-conference portion of the schedule last night. The Badgers defeated Chicago State 80-53 at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin goes into the new year with a record of 9-3. The Badgers sot 50% from the field and 77% from the free throw line. Here are three takeaways from last night’s win.
A Career Night From AJ Storr
The star of the show last night was Wisconsin guard AJ Storr. He had a career high 29 points on 11-18 shooting. At one point, he had as many points individually as Chicago State had as a team.
Storr is exactly what this team was missing a season ago. The Badgers needed a player similar to Johnny Davis to spread the floor and win at the rim. Storr is by far the most athletic player on this team and he’s becoming the best offensive player on this team. Add in his defense and he’ becoming a complete player. I don’t think he’s hit this ceiling yet. If he does, he can be one of the best players in the Big Ten.
An Injury Scare to Chucky Hepburn
There was an injury scare in the second half to Wisconsin basketball point guard Chucky Hepburn. After a steal and a clear path to the rim, Hepburn appeared to suffer a non-contact injury and went down immediately. Hepburn was helped off the court putting little to no weight on his right leg.
Gard on Chucky Hepburn: He was walking around the locker room afterward. it'll be sore but he feels he's going to be fine. He said he was going to go dunk that one before he got hurt.
It's nice to have a bench when somebody gets hurt… We have some time here to rest up.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) December 23, 2023
Fortunately, just after the injury, Hepburn returned to the bench. Greg Gard mentioned after the game it did not to appear to be serious. All we know is it was a lower body injury per UW, but it looked like a groin injury.
We won’t know the immediate status of Hepburn, but UW does have 12 days off until their next game. That should give him a lot of time to rest and hopefully play against Iowa. If not, we will likely see John Blackwell inserted in the lineup. It seems like it could have been a lot worse, but thankfully it wasn’t.
Wisconsin Basketball is Playing Well Entering Big Ten Season
At this time of the season, you want to be playing your best basketball or at least trending in the right direction entering conference play. There’s a lot to like about where Wisconsin basketball is right now. I think a player like Connor Essegian had a nice night logging 18 minutes and looks to be trending in the right direction.
The more I see this team play, the more I believe they are one of the best teams in the Big Ten. Outside of the first four games, Wisconsin basketball has defended very well. They are also getting to the free throw line and shooting it well there to.
The depth and overall talent of this team compared to last season sticks out to me the most. Right now, Gard should be confident playing as many as 10 guys a night. I think that will tighten up in February and March, but that’s better compared to last season when Gard looked hesitant to go eight deep.
Give credit to Gard and the Wisconsin basketball staff for bringing in the talent they did from the portal and the freshman class. This is a good team and they have the chance to do something special.
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