Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball: Red-White scrimmage recap

The Red team came away victorious in Sunday's Red-White scrimmage at the Kohl Center, winning 55-51.

Author:
Matt Belz
Updated:
Oct 9, 2022 6:49 PM EDT
Original:
Oct 9, 2022

In this story:

Basketball season is nearly here.

While the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team does not officially begin playing opponents until later this month, the Badgers held their annual Red-White scrimmage inside the Kohl Center on Sunday.

The inter-squad scrimmage featured the 2022-2023 Wisconsin basketball team split into two squads in a game atmosphere. In the end, the Red team outdueled the White team 55-51 in a fun practice that featured plenty of notable shooting performances on both sides.

Here is a look at the rosters for the scrimmage, and some notable stats from the game.


Team Red	Team White
Connor Essegian	Jahcobi Neath
Tyler Wahl	Steven Crowl
Chucky Hepburn	Jordan Davis
Chris Hodges	Max Klesmit
Ross Candelino	Carter Gilmore
Justin Taphorn	Isaac Gard
Luke Haertle	Kamari McGee
Markus Ilver	Isaac Lindsey (injured)

Top Performers

True freshman Connor Essegian (Red team) and Wofford transfer Max Klemsit (White team) stole the show on Sunday. The two wings led their respective teams in points, and each displayed an ability to hit shots from all over the court.

Essegian possesses a quick release and is an advanced shooter for his age. He went 3-of-4 from three-point range, and Essegian will likely see the floor right away this season based on his performance on Sunday and over the summer during the trip to France.

For Klesmit, he attempted 13 shots during the scrimmage, but he led all scorers with 17 points. With multiple years of college basketball experience, he is one of the front-runners for a starting spot this season, and he will likely split time with Essegian and others.

Chucky Hepburn and Tyler Wahl, both of whom recently made the preseason All-Big Ten team, also scored in double-figures in the scrimmage. Wahl hit multiple three-pointers and stuffed the stat sheet in several ways, while Hepburn did all of his damage inside the three-point arc. Hepburn finished with 12 points, while Wahl added 13 for the Red team.

Overall trends

One of the main takeaways from the scrimmage, beyond the play of specific individuals, was the shooting ability of the group. Overall, the two teams shot well from the floor and the Red team made 50% of their three-point attempts. Greg Gard noted in his press conference last week that this team would need to shoot the ball well from three and that the group may play a bit differently on offense. That appears to be the case based on the scrimmage. The team's work on the defensive end will need to improve, but the group can shoot the ball.

The transfer additions, Max Klesmit and Kamari McGee appear ready to contribute right away for Wisconsin this season as well. The two combined for 26 points, four three-point makes, and also added three rebounds, with five assists. McGee will likely be the primary backup behind Chucky Hepburn, but Max Klesmit's role on the team will be interesting to watch early in the season.

One other notable result of the scrimmage was the shooting of Tyler Wahl. After making only 16% of his three-point attempts last season, Wahl was 3-of-4 during the scrimmage, and his shot appears more fluid than we have seen in the past. Just one practice, but the results are notable.