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Wisconsin men's basketball holds off Marquette for an 80-77 win

The Wisconsin Badgers win the I-94 rivalry over Marquette by three points in Milwaukee.

Matt Belz

In this story:

Looking to rebound after a narrow loss to Wake Forest earlier in the week, the Wisconsin Badgers came into Saturday's rivalry matchup against Marquette hungry for a win. 

Making the short trip East to Milwaukee for the 129th iteration of the I-94 rivalry, the Badgers escaped with an 80-77 win over the Golden Eagles behind a big game from Chucky Hepburn. 

Here is a look back at Wisconsin's narrow 3-point win over Marquette at the Fiserv Forum. 

Contents

  1. Game recap
  2. Players of note
  3. Instant Analysis
  4. Photos of the game
  5. Up next

Game recap

In the first four minutes of the game, the Wisconsin Badgers would jump out to a 9-6 lead behind a strong start by point guard Chucky Hepburn and five quick points. The Badgers began the game by making four of their first six shot attempts to help pave the way to their early advantage. 

Coming out of the first media timeout, Marquette would cut into the lead with back-to-back buckets by Chase Ross, but Chucky Hepburn and backup point guard Kamari McGee would respond with jumpers to help extend Wisconsin's lead to six points with a 19-16 edge with 11:36 remaining in the first half. 

Over the next two minutes, Wisconsin would open up an 8-point lead behind a layup from Max Klesmit off a pretty pass from Steven Crowl. However, Marquette would go on a 5-0 run to pull the Golden Eagles back into the game and make it a 23-20 game at the 7:37 mark. 

Marquette guard Kam Jones would tie the game up at 23 points apiece moments later before Steven Crowl threw down a big dunk in transition to regain the lead in favor of Wisconsin. Over the next three minutes, the two teams would exchange three-pointers, with Chucky Hepburn and Olivier-Maxence Prosper each connecting from deep. By the next media timeout, Wisconsin would maintain a 31-28 advantage with 3:35 left to play. 

Over the final few minutes, the Badgers would establish an 11-point lead at halftime, with Chucky Hepburn burying a pair of huge threes and Tyler Wahl getting in on the action with a made three-pointer as well.

Coming out of the break, Marquette would cut into the halftime deficit by outscoring the Badgers 9-7 to make it a 48-39 Wisconsin lead with 15:33 remaining. Starting guard Chucky Hepburn needed assistance off the court after suffering what appeared to be a groin injury. 

Without their leading scorer on the court, the Badgers would turn to Isaac Lindsey and Max Klesmit to run the offense, and Marquette would continue to pull back into the game and gain momentum. Freshman guard Connor Essegian would silence the Fiserv Forum crowd with a huge three-pointer though and reestablish a 10-point edge for Wisconsin with 14 minutes left to play. 

David Joplin and Kam Jones of Marquette would put together 10 quick points to make it interesting before Connor Essegian once again provided the answer for Wisconsin with five quick points of his own. By the next media timeout with 10:40 on the clock, the Badgers' lead had shrunk to 58-51. 

With Chucky Hepburn still in the locker room, the Golden Eagles would go on another run to draw nearer. However, the Wisconsin Badgers would once again come up with an answer as Steven Crowl finished a pair of layups through contact to give UW a 63-57 lead with a little over eight minutes left to play in the game. 

A 4-0 run by the Golden Eagles would trim the Wisconsin lead to just three with seven minutes remaining, and usher Chucky Hepburn back into the game from the locker room. With Hepburn back on the court, the Badgers would slow the game down and quell some of the momentum that Marquette had at the time. 

However, a pair of free throws by Olivier-Maxence Prosper would ultimately pull Marquette back within one point moments later, and make it 67-66 in favor of Wisconsin at the 3:35 mark. 

Following a pair of missed free throws by Marquette and with the Badgers in the middle of a scoring drought, head coach Greg Gard would call a timeout with 2:19 remaining with his team still clinging to a 1-point lead. 

Coming out of the timeout the Golden Eagles would take advantage of a Connor Essegian turnover for a breakaway layup with just over a minute remaining to grab a 68-67 lead. However, playing through an injury Chucky Hepburn would come up with another huge three-pointer to regain a lead for Wisconsin on the next possession. 

Oso Ighodaro of Marquette would get to the rim with an authoritative dunk to tie it up with seconds remaining and ultimately send the game into overtime. 

In OT, Tyler Wahl would get the scoring started for the Badgers with a layup inside, while Olivier-Maxence Prosper would maintain the tie with consecutive free throws from the line in the first minute of action. 

After hitting the top of the backboard on a three-point attempt from the corner, Wisconsin guard Jordan Davis stepped up on the next possession with a huge three-point make to give the Badgers the lead with two minutes left. From there, Tyler Wahl would make it a 77-72 advantage in favor of the Badgers with a pretty layup off of pick-and-roll action. 

A pair of free throws by Marquette and a critical three from Kam Jones would once again even the game back up though at 77-77. 

Coming out of a brief timeout by Greg Gard and the Badgers, Chucky Hepburn found a cutting Max Klesmit for a layup with 3.5 seconds remaining to seal the victory for Wisconsin. 

Players of note

  • Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin)

Stats: 19 points (7-of-10 shooting), four rebounds, two assists, and two steals

Chucky Hepburn played remarkably well in the first half. The Wisconsin star was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor and made all four of his three-point attempts in the first twenty minutes. 

Unfortunately, Hepburn suffered an injury early in the second half that knocked him out for a large part of the second half. While he did not play the entirety of the game, his play in the first half set an early tone for the Badgers, and he came back into the game at just the right time with a three-pointer late to send the game to overtime. 

  • Max Klesmit (Wisconsin)

Stats: 13 points (4-of-8 shooting), three rebounds, and four assists in 34 minutes

With Chucky Hepburn unavailable for most of the second half, Max Klesmit stepped up for Wisconsin to not only help out by bringing the ball up the court but also add some scoring. The junior guard hit multiple big three-pointers for UW and once again scored in double-figures. Klesmit ultimately came up with the game-winning layup in overtime and put together another gritty performance on the defensive end for the Badgers. 

  • Tyler Wahl (Wisconsin)

Stats: 15 points (6-of-12 shooting), seven rebounds, and two steals in 39 minutes

Tyler Wahl came up big when the Badgers needed him against Marquette. The senior forward had a significant layup to open the overtime period and also tallied a team-high seven rebounds for Greg Gard. He struggled with five turnovers in the game, but his abilities on the defensive end proved big for UW. 

  • Kam Jones (Marquette)

Stats: 26 points (9-of-12 shooting), six rebounds, and one assist in 40 minutes

Kam Jones put together a huge second half for Marquette and helped pull the Golden Eagles back into the game. He led all scorers with 26 in the game and was 4-of-6 from three-point range in the game.  

Instant Analysis

Wisconsin got off to a great start against Marquette and that came up big later with Chucky Hepburn going down with an injury. Wisconsin's late run in the first half allowed them to snag an 11-point edge at the break, an important component to coming away with a road win. 

A 15-5 run by Marquette in the second half with Chucky Hepburn out of the game would make things dicey for Wisconsin, but credit to the bench for stepping up and keeping UW afloat with Hepburn in the locker room. 

Hepburn's reemergence in the second half gave the team a big spark and his three-point shooting paid dividends all game long. The contest played out somewhat similar to the Wake Forest game, as Marquette and the Badgers were able to score fairly effortlessly, each shooting over 50% from the floor. However, unlike earlier in the week, Greg Gard's bunch came up with the late shots necessary to win the game, which showed impressive growth for the group. 

Photos of the game

Steven Crowl / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Steven Crowl looking to pass the ball in the first half against Marquette. 

Tyler Wahl / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Tyler making a layup over a Marquette defender at the Fiserv Forum. 

Chucky Hepburn / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn driving to the basket against Marquette in the first half. 

Jordan Davis / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Jordan Davis attempting to score in the lane against Marquette. 

Connor Essegian / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian shooting a three-pointer against Marquette. 

Tyler Wahl / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Tyler Wahl getting to the rim with a layup against Marquette. 

Connor Essegian / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian dribbling the basketball against Marquette. 

Steven Crowl / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Steven Crowl dunking the basketball against Marquette. 

Steven Crowl / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Steven Crowl attempting to hold onto the basketball against a double-team from Marquette. 

Tyler Wahl / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Tyler Wahl driving through contact against Marquette. 

Up next

The Badgers will begin Big Ten play on Tuesday, December 6, with the Maryland Terrapins coming to the Kohl Center. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. CST and the game will be aired on ESPN2. 

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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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