Wisconsin Guard's Status In Question For Tennessee Game
On Monday, some important news came out regarding Tennessee's matchup in Madison against Wisconsin on Friday. Wisconsin Sophomore Guard Connor Essegian played less than 5 minutes in the Badgers' 105-76 win over the Red Wolves. Essegian left the game with what was called an "upper-body injury".
In his postgame press conference, Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard said he was sure Essegian was sore and that they would see how he feels tomorrow. No further update was provided on Essegian, but Gard did note that it was a testament to Wisconsin's depth that guys stepped up after Essegian went down.
The Badgers got good contributions on the offensive end from Chucky Hepburn, AJ Storr and Max Klesmit in Essegian's absence, but maybe the most notable was 12 points from Freshman John Blackwell. Blackwell was a 3-star combo guard out of Michigan and it could be a huge boost to the Badgers' backcourt if he is playable as a freshman.
It should be noted that if Essegian can't go on Friday, the Badgers lose a valuable offensive piece against the best 3-point defense in the country a year ago. As a freshman, Essegian shot nearly 36% from 3 and hit above 88% of his free throws.
Essegian was on the stationary exercise bike for a decent bit in the second half of the game on Monday, but we won't get an update on his status until later this week and it is certainly possible that Wisconsin treats this day-by-day and it depends on how Essegian feels on Friday.
The Volunteers will play their first road game of the season Friday at 9:00 EST against a Wisconsin team that missed the NCAA Tournament last year.
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