The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team defeated the Arkansas State Red Wolves 105-76 at the Kohl Center Monday in their home opener.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has a dominant history when it comes to their season openers. The Badgers came into this game with a 24-1 season opener record in the Kohl Center — undefeated in home-opener games under head coach Greg Gard with an average margin of victory of 22.3 points per game.
Wisconsin opened the floodgates early on with a 9-0 run to start the game. Badger guard AJ Storr and forward Tyler Wahl led the charge for Wisconsin, combining for 10 of the Badgers’ first 13 points.
Storr finished the first half with 11 points on 50% shooting from the field, but Wahl found himself in foul trouble in the first half and only played for eight minutes. However, Wahl still scored six points on 75% shooting.
Wisconsin forward Steven Crowl exerted his presence early on against the Red Wolves. Crowl, who stands at a staggering seven feet tall, had a minimum two-inch height advantage over Arkansas State players.
Crowl found many post-up opportunities against the Red Wolves defense that led to point-blank layups or trips to the free-throw line. He finished the half with seven points on 66% shooting from the field and six free throw attempts.
The Badgers finished the first half with a 15-point lead and outscored Arkansas State in the paint by 14 points while shooting 16.5% higher from the field.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin, guard Connor Essegian landed hard on the floor at the six-minute mark of the first half after a Red Wolves player jumped over his back to grab an offensive rebound. Essegian exited the game and did not return, but he was seen on the Badger sideline staying active on a bike.
The absence of Essegian only fueled the Badgers going into the second half where Wisconsin guards Chucky Hepburn and Max Klesmit showed out.
Despite Hepburn’s six-point first-half performance, he ended up leading the Badgers in scoring with 20 points — 14 of which came in the second half, where he shot perfect from the three-point line and only missed one shot from the field and one from the line. Hepburn also finished the game with six assists, three steals and a box plus-minus of 31.
Klesmit scored eight points in the seven minutes he played in the second half and made all of his shot attempts. Wisconsin’s guards’ scoring prowess helped the Badgers make history and break the Kohl Center single-game scoring record with 105 points in their victory.
Wisconsin looks toward their next matchup against No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers. The Badgers won their last two games against the Volunteers back in 2019 and 2016 but will face a tough test against Tennessee on Nov. 10 at the Kohl Center.
