All Badgers

Wisconsin men's basketball rallies to beat Lehigh 78-56

The Wisconsin Badgers take down the Lehigh Mountain Hawks by 22 points thanks to a second-half comeback.

Matt Belz

In this story:

The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team (9-2 overall, 2-0 B1G) came into Thursday's matchup against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks winners of three-straight games. 

Playing in front of a lighter Kohl Center crowd, the Badgers got off to a slow start but came back in a big way for a 78-56 win over the Mountain Hawks. 

Here is a look back at Wisconsin's 22-point win over Lehigh. 

Contents

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

Game recap

The Wisconsin Badgers started the game with their same starting five, and junior guard Jordan Davis got UW on the scoreboard first with a corner three. However, Lehigh would grab an early 8-5 lead in the first five minutes of action thanks to a pair of Wisconsin turnovers. 

After a media timeout, Lehigh would add to their lead with a made triple by Evan Taylor and a layup by Tyler Whitney-Sidney, as the Badgers continued to struggle on offense with eight-straight missed shots and further turnover issues. By the 11:18 mark, Lehigh was up 13-5 and on a 9-0 run, while Wisconsin had not scored in nearly six minutes of play. 

Connor Essegian would step up with a big three-pointer for Wisconsin after the break to end the lengthy scoring drought, but Lehigh would quickly respond with a pair of layups to maintain their early advantage. 

However, the Badgers would come up with a quick response, as Jordan Davis and Tyler Wahl would spark a quick 10-0 run to reestablish a lead for Wisconsin. Davis hit two three-pointers in a matter of two minutes, while Tyler Wahl would successfully get to the rim for a pair of layups to give UW an 18-17 lead with just over seven minutes left in the half.

The Mountain Hawks would regain the lead moments later, but Tyler Wahl would respond with a bucket from beyond the arc to put the Badgers back in front on the next possession. 

Over the next few minutes, Lehigh would make three consecutive shots to grab the lead back 25-24 with 3:50 left on the clock, despite Wisconsin forward Carter Gilmore throwing down a put-back dunk with two hands and adding a free throw. 

Over the final few minutes, both teams shot the ball well. The Badgers went a perfect 3-for-3 with Carter Gilmore, Chucky Hepburn, and Tyler Wahl each scoring, but Lehigh would continue to shoot phenomenally well too, making three of their next four shot attempts to take a 32-31 lead into halftime. 

After trailing at the break, the Badgers would go inside to big-man Steven Crowl who hit a nifty jumper in the lane on the first possession of the half for Wisconsin and then followed that up with a two-handed slam over the top of the Lehigh defender. However, Lehigh would not let up on offense, thanks to a pair of made jumpers by Evan Taylor, and a layup by Dominic Parolin. By the first media timeout, the two teams were all tied up at 38 points apiece. 

After tying the game up, the Badgers would fall into the trap of turning the ball over on their next two possessions, kickstarting a quick 5-0 run for the Mountain Hawks and forcing Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard to call a timeout to help his team regroup down five. 

Connor Essegian would end the Badgers' scoring drought with consecutive three-pointers to give Wisconsin six points in 35 seconds of play, and give UW a 44-43 lead with 13:21 on the clock. 

Following a Lehigh timeout, Max Klesmit would hit another three for the Badgers and Tyler Wahl would hit a running layup to force another Lehigh timeout as Wisconsin secured a 49-43 advantage with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. 

Keith Higgins of Lehigh would end a four-minute scoring drought for the Mountain Hawks, but Connor Essegian would continue to pour it on for the Badgers with a two-point jumper and a floater in the lane to help maintain a six-point lead for UW. 

A pair of free throws by Steven Crowl and a made layup by Chucky Hepburn would extend the Wisconsin lead to 59-49 with 6:43 remaining in the game, after that the floodgates would open as Max Klesmit and Steven Crowl would bury consecutive threes for the Badgers and Chucky Hepburn would make it an 18-point lead on another layup with just under five minutes left to go. 

Coming out of the timeout, Jordan Davis would add to the Wisconsin lead with his fourth three-pointer of the game, and then Chucky Hepburn would score his eight points of the game inside the paint. 

Greg Gard would go to the reserves over the final three minutes, and the backups didn't miss a beat, bringing home a 22-point win. 

Players of note

  • Steven Crowl (Wisconsin)

Stats: 15 points (6-of-11 shooting), five rebounds, and four assists in 27 minutes

On a night where the Badgers didn't bring their A-game in the first half, Steven Crowl put together a big 13-point performance in the second half to help lead Wisconsin. The 7-footer played very well in the final 20 minutes of the game and helped give UW a consistent presence inside on both ends of the court. 

  • Jordan Davis (Wisconsin)

Stats: 14 points (5-of-8 shooting), and five rebounds in 25 minutes

If it was't for three triples by Jordan Davis in the first half, things might have gotten very ugly for the Badgers early on. The junior guard made three of his four shot attempts in the first stanza and ultimately finished the game with 14 points to go along with five rebounds. While his production has been fairly uneven at times this season, Davis kept UW afloat in the first half on the offensive end. 

  • Connor Essegian (Wisconsin)

Stats: 13 points (5-of-10 shooting), and six rebounds in 20 minutes

On multiple occasions, when the Badgers needed a big bucket they turned to Connor Essegian. The freshman guard hit a three-pointer in the first half to end a bad scoring drought, and did the same in the second half to help jumpstart Wisconsin's big scoring barrage. He was 3-of-7 from three-point range and also grabbed six boards against Lehigh. 

  • Evan Taylor (Lehigh)

Stats: 18 points (7-of-10 shooting), two rebounds, and one assist in 33 minutes

Evan Taylor came into the game the leading scorer for Lehigh, and he held up his end of the bargain on Thursday night. The 6-foot-6 guard shot the ball well all night long and had a game-high 18 points in the loss. 

Instant Analysis

Wisconsin got off to a dreadful start against Lehigh with four turnovers and a six-minute scoring drought in the first nine minutes of play. In fact, the Badgers had six turnovers in their first 13 possessions of the game, and that helped the Mountain Hawks kickstart their offense on the other end of the court. 

In the first half, Lehigh was able to get dribble penetration and get into the lane for easy looks with 22 points in the paint compared to just 2-of-8 shooting from three. While the Mountain Hawks found success on offense, the turnover troubles were not the only story for Wisconsin in the first half. UW was just 4-of-13 on layups and had zero fast-break points. 

Early in the second half, it was more of the same for the Badgers, as UW continued to turn the ball over. However, back-to-back threes in the span of 35 seconds from Connor Essegian would bring the team to life and Wisconsin also clamped down on the defensive end after those shots to force a four-minute scoring drought for Lehigh. 

From that point forward the game was completely different, as the Badgers rattled off a 26-9 run, including a 14-2 run in just three minutes of play. While the first 25 minutes of the game were not pretty, Wisconsin closed the game extremely strong and distanced themselves from the Mountain Hawks late. 

It was not the most impressive performance by the Badgers, but it was nice to see them exorcise their turnover troubles and ultimately come away with a 22-point victory. 

Photos of the game

Jordan Davis / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Jordan Davis playing defense against Keith Higgins of Lehigh. 

Carter Gilmore / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Carter Gilmore dunking the basketball against Lehigh. 

Greg Gard / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard yelling to his team at the Kohl Center against Lehigh. 

Steven Crowl and Chucky Hepburn / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin players Steven Crowl and Chucky Hepburn celebrate while going back to the huddle against Lehigh. 

Connor Essegian / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian passing the basketball against Lehigh. 

Chucky Hepburn and Connor Essegian / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guards Chucky Hepburn and Connor Essegian talk while walking off the court at the Kohl Center. 

Steven Crowl / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Steven Crowl looking to pass the basketball against Lehigh. 

Up next

The Badgers will remain at the Kohl Center for the rest of 2022. Next on the schedule is a non-conference clash with Grambling State on December 23. The contest will be aired on Big Ten Network and is set to begin at 8 p.m. CST. Wisconsin will wear black alternate uniforms in the game. 

Related links:

You can keep up to date on everything at All Badgers by liking + following our Facebook page and Twitter account:

Facebook - @AllBadgers
Twitter - @All_Badgers

You can also follow Site Publisher Matt Belz at @savedbythebelz on Twitter.

Published
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.

Home/Basketball