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Wisconsin basketball: Badgers win first game in France 81-66

The Badgers won by 15 points in France on Wednesday, with Chucky Hepburn scoring a team-high 13 points.

Matt Belz

In this story:

After weeks of preparation, the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team was finally able to play in their first exhibition game of the summer as part of their two-week trip to France.

Taking on the Paris Towers, Wisconsin was able to take care of business and secure a 15-point victory, winning 81 to 66.

The Badgers were led by returning starters Chucky Hepburn and Steven Crowl, who each finished the contest in double-figures.

Crowl had a team-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and hauled in five rebounds.

Hepburn added 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the floor. All four of his made attempts were from the three-point range, where he went 4-of-7 overall. The sophomore point guard also had three rebounds and four steals but did commit an uncharacteristic four turnovers.

Behind Crowl and Hepburn, the Badgers received nice contributions from sophomores Isaac Lindsay and Markus Ilver. Lindsay came off the bench and played 18 minutes, scoring 10 points with three three-point makes and six rebounds.

Ilver also made a trio of three-pointers, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes of action.

Senior forward Tyle Wahl grabbed eight rebounds and poured in an additional eight points on offense.

Based on a tip-time photo, the starting lineup for Wisconsin was:

  • Chucky Hepburn - PG
  • Max Klesmit - SG
  • Jordan Davis - SF
  • Tyler Wahl - PF
  • Steven Crowl - C

The game represented the first opportunity for several players to play their first game with the Badgers, including transfers Max Klesmit and Kamari McGee.

In his Badgers debut, Klesmit played just shy of 21 minutes with two points on 1-of-4 shooting. McGee scored six points on 3-of-10 shooting from the floor but also had three steals and four turnovers.

Looking to follow the footsteps of his twin brother, Jordan Davis led the team with a +26 plus/minus for the day and contributed eight points and eight rebounds.

Young forwards Carter Gilmore and Chris Hodges each added six points off the bench on 50% shooting. Hodges also grabbed seven rebounds during the game.

True freshman Connor Essegian went scoreless in just over nine minutes of playing time.

The following players did not participate:

  • Jahcobi Neath (injury)
  • Luke Haertle'
  • Justin Taphorn
  • Isaac Gard
  • Ross Candelino

Three statistical takeaways

  • Hard to take too much from the game because we do not know the level of competition, but the Badgers did turn the ball over 25 times, which is well above their average from a season ago. Much of that likely stems from the number of new faces on the team and youth, but the hope has to be that those numbers come down over the next few games. 
  • On the positive side, Wisconsin shot the ball well, specifically from three-point range. Overall, the Badgers finished 12-of-27 (44%) from long-range, with Jordan Davis (2), Isaac Lindsay (3), Markus Ilver (3), and Chucky Hepburn (4), each making multiple threes during the game. Shooting is one of the biggest question marks coming into the 2022-2023 season, so this game illustrates some promise. 
  • Rolling with a deeper bench, the Badgers outscored the Paris Towers 38 to 29 off the bench and finished the game +8 on points in the paint. Both numbers are significant for Wisconsin, as bench scoring was hard to come by a year ago. 

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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