Wisconsin Guard Chucky Hepburn's Availability Against Purdue Basketball Unclear
Ahead of Purdue basketball's road matchup against Wisconsin on Thursday at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., sophomore guard Chucky Hepburn's status for the Badgers is in question.
Hepburn, who is tied as the team's leading scorer at 12.1 points per game this season, suffered a lower-body injury in Sunday's 87-79 overtime loss to Michigan on Sunday. He did not practice on Tuesday.
"We'll prepare for him to be out there," Purdue coach Matt Painter said on Wednesday. "We know how good of a player he is, we know how tough he is. He's a clutch player. He gets big-time steals late in games, he makes big-time shots. He's a big piece for them."
As a freshman last year, Hepburn scored a season-high 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting against the Boilermakers, which included a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Now in his second season of college basketball, Hepburn spearheads a Wisconsin offense that ranks fourth in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage. He has made 57 of his 132 shots from beyond the arc, good for 43.2 percent.
Against the Wolverines, he posted just four points on 2-of-6 shooting to go along with four assists and three rebounds before exiting the game. Without Hepburn on the floor, the Badgers nearly escaped the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor with a victory before a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Hunter Dickinson sent the game into overtime.
Purdue is expecting Hepburn to be on the floor during Thursday's showdown against Wisconsin but is prepared to see others step up if he is unable to suit up.
"I would think they are a lot different, but after watching the Michigan game, they played really well without him," Painter said. "We know how good they are across the board. They have a good team."
Freshman guard Connor Essegian is also averaging 12.1 points per contest for Wisconsin this season and is coming off a 24-point performance against Michigan.
In place of Hepburn, sophomore guard Kamari McGee played a season-high 25 minutes off the bench and posted six points, three rebounds and a steal with no turnovers.
McGee is a transfer from Green Bay who averaged a team-high 11.6 points per game as a freshman for the Phoenix.
"I thought McGee came in and did a really good job for them," Painter said. "He got in the paint, he got a lot of offensive rebounds. He just kind of played his role and was aggressive when he had to be."
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