# 2022–23 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Badgers were led by eighth-year head coach Greg Gard and played their home games at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the regular season 17–13, 9–11 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for 11th place. As the No. 12 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost to Ohio State in the first round. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Bradley, Liberty, and Oregon to advance to the tournament semifinals. There they lost to eventual champion North Texas.

## Previous season

The Badgers finished the 2021–22 season 25–8, 15–5 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for first place. As the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, they lost to Michigan State in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their 26th trip to the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest region. The Badgers defeated Colgate in the First Round before losing to Iowa State in the Second Round.

## Offseason
### Departures

All players listed as "graduated" are tentative departures unless otherwise noted.
Wisconsin Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Johnny Davis | 1 | G | 6'5" | 194 | Sophomore | La Crosse, WI | Declared for 2022 NBA draft/Selected 10th overall by Washington Wizards |
| Carter Higginbottom | 4 | G | 6'0" | 193 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Lorne Bowman II | 11 | G | 6'2" | 210 | Freshman | Detroit, MI | Transferred to Oakland |
| Ben Carlson | 20 | F | 6'9" | 226 | Sophomore | Woodbury, MN | Transferred to Utah |
| Matthew Mors | 32 | F | 6'7" | 241 | Freshman | Yankton, SD | Transferred to South Dakota State |
| Chris Vogt | 33 | C | 7'0" | 257 | Graduate Student | Mayfield, KY | Graduated |
| Brad Davison | 34 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Graduate Student | Maple Grove, MN | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

Wisconsin Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Max Klesmit | 11 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Junior | Neenah, WI | Wofford |
| Kamari McGee | 4 | G | 6'0" | 170 | Sophomore | Racine, WI | Green Bay |

### 2022 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Connor Essegian G | Albion, IN | Central Noble High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 15, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2022 Wisconsin Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022. "ESPN- Wisconsin Badgers Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022. "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 18, 2022. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| France trip |||||||||
| August 10, 2022* 10:00 a.m. | | at Paris Towers France Tour | W 82–66 | – | 13 – Crowl | 8 – Tied | 4 – Gilmore | Paris, FRA |
| August 12, 2022* 12:00 p.m. | | at Lyon Towers France Tour | W 80–68 | – | 12 – Wahl | – | – | Lyon, FRA |
| August 13, 2022* 12:00 p.m. | | at Lyon Towers France Tour | W 78–47 | – | 14 – Ilver | – | – | Lyon, FRA |
| August 15, 2022* 12:00 p.m. | | at Azurea Club de Golfe France Tour | W 85–69 | – | 14 – Tied | – | – | Vallauris, FRA |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 30, 2022* 11:30 a.m., BTN+ | | Wisconsin–Eau Claire | W 76–45 | | 14 – Crowl | 6 – Crowl | 5 – Wahl | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 7, 2022* 7:30 p.m., BTN | | South Dakota | W 85–59 | 1–0 | 19 – Wahl | 10 – Wahl | 4 – Wahl | Kohl Center (14,349) Madison, WI |
| November 11, 2022* 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | vs. Stanford Brew City Battle | W 60–50 | 2–0 | 17 – Wahl | 11 – Crowl | 5 – Hepburn | American Family Field (17,927) Milwaukee, WI |
| November 15, 2022* 8:00 p.m., BTN | | Green Bay | W 56–45 | 3–0 | 11 – Davis | 9 – Tied | 3 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (14,204) Madison, WI |
| November 23, 2022* 1:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Dayton Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinal | W 43–42 | 4–0 | 13 – Essegian | 8 – Davis | 4 – Crowl | Imperial Arena (1,047) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 24, 2022* 10:00 a.m., ESPN | | vs. No. 3 Kansas Battle 4 Atlantis semifinal | L 68–69 $^{OT}$ | 4–1 | 23 – Wahl | 10 – Wahl | 3 – Crowl | Imperial Arena (1,185) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 25, 2022* 12:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. USC Battle 4 Atlantis 3rd place game | W 64–59 | 5–1 | 17 – Hepburn | 9 – Wahl | 4 – Hepburn | Imperial Arena (510) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 29, 2022* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Wake Forest ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 75–78 | 5–2 | 23 – Hepburn | 7 – Crowl | 3 – Tied | Kohl Center (14,435) Madison, WI |
| December 3, 2022* 3:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Marquette Rivalry | W 80–77 $^{OT}$ | 6–2 | 19 – Hepburn | 7 – Wahl | 7 – Crowl | Fiserv Forum (17,760) Milwaukee, WI |
| December 6, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 13 Maryland | W 64–59 | 7–2 (1–0) | 13 – Hepburn | 6 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 11, 2022 5:30 p.m., BTN | | at Iowa | W 78–75 $^{OT}$ | 8–2 (2–0) | 21 – Wahl | 7 – Wahl | 7 – Crowl | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (12,430) Iowa City, IA |
| December 15, 2022* 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 22 | Lehigh | W 78–56 | 9–2 | 15 – Crowl | 7 – Wahl | 4 – Tied | Kohl Center (12,760) Madison, WI |
| December 23, 2022* 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 17 | Grambling State | Canceled due to weather | Canceled due to weather | Canceled due to weather | Canceled due to weather | Canceled due to weather | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 30, 2022* 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | No. 15 | Western Michigan | W 76–66 | 10–2 | 25 – Crowl | 8 – Crowl | 5 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (15,138) Madison, WI |
| January 3, 2023 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 14 | Minnesota | W 63–60 | 11–2 (3–0) | 17 – Crowl | 8 – Davis | 4 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (13,850) Madison, WI |
| January 7, 2023 12:30 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 14 | at Illinois | L 69–79 | 11–3 (3–1) | 22 – Hepburn | 12 – Crowl | 7 – Hepburn | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL |
| January 10, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 18 | Michigan State | L 65–69 | 11–4 (3–2) | 19 – Crowl | 4 – Lindsey | 5 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (14,260) Madison, WI |
| January 14, 2023 12:00 p.m., CBS | No. 18 | at Indiana | L 45–63 | 11–5 (3–3) | 14 – Essegian | 11 – Essegian | 2 – Hepburn | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN |
| January 17, 2023 7:30 p.m., BTN | | Penn State | W 63–60 | 12–5 (4–3) | 21 – Crowl | 11 – Crowl | 3 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (14,236) Madison, WI |
| January 23, 2023 5:30 p.m., BTN | | at Northwestern | L 63–66 | 12–6 (4–4) | 15 – Davis | 9 – Crowl | 5 – Hepburn | Welsh–Ryan Arena (4,218) Evanston, IL |
| January 25, 2023 6:00 p.m., BTN | | at Maryland | L 55–73 | 12–7 (4–5) | 19 – Essegian | 4 – Tied | 4 – Hepburn | Xfinity Center (14,407) College Park, MD |
| January 28, 2023 1:00 p.m., FOX | | Illinois | L 51–61 | 12–8 (4–6) | 15 – Hepburn | 8 – Klesmit | 2 – Tied | Kohl Center (17,071) Madison, WI |
| February 2, 2023 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Ohio State | W 65–60 | 13–8 (5–6) | 17 – Essegian | 9 – Crowl | 3 – Hepburn | Value City Arena (11,918) Columbus, OH |
| February 5, 2023 5:30 p.m., BTN | | Northwestern | L 52–54 | 13–9 (5–7) | 17 – Hepburn | 8 – Crowl | 4 – Tied | Kohl Center (15,632) Madison, WI |
| February 8, 2023 7:30 p.m., BTN | | at Penn State | W 79–74 $^{OT}$ | 14–9 (6–7) | 19 – Hepburn | 8 – Crowl | 8 – Wahl | Bryce Jordan Center (7,213) University Park, PA |
| February 11, 2023 3:00 p.m., BTN | | at Nebraska | L 63–73 $^{OT}$ | 14–10 (6–8) | 19 – Hepburn | 9 – Crowl | 5 – Wahl | Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,811) Lincoln, NE |
| February 14, 2023 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Michigan | W 64–59 | 15–10 (7–8) | 23 – Essegian | 12 – Crowl | 6 – Crowl | Kohl Center (15,436) Madison, WI |
| February 18, 2023 11:00 a.m., BTN | | Rutgers | L 57–58 | 15–11 (7–9) | 14 – Davis | 11 – Crowl | 6 – Wahl | Kohl Center (17,071) Madison, WI |
| February 22, 2023 8:00 p.m., BTN | | Iowa | W 64–52 | 16–11 (8–9) | 17 – Essegian | 14 – Wahl | 5 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (16,029) Madison, WI |
| February 26, 2023 1:00 p.m., CBS | | at Michigan | L 79–87 $^{OT}$ | 16–12 (8–10) | 24 – Essegian | 11 – Wahl | 4 – Hepburn | Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI |
| March 2, 2023 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 5 Purdue | L 61–63 | 16–13 (8–11) | 19 – Klesmit | 6 – Crowl | 4 – Wahl | Kohl Center (17,071) Madison, WI |
| March 5, 2023 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Minnesota | W 71–67 | 17–13 (9–11) | 21 – Tied | 7 – Tied | 3 – Klesmit | Williams Arena (12,276) Minneapolis, MN |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 8, 2023 5:30 p.m., BTN | (12) | vs. (13) Ohio State First round | L 57–65 | 17–14 | 19 – Wahl | 10 – Wahl | 3 – Tied | United Center Chicago, IL |
| NIT |||||||||
| March 14, 2023 8:30 p.m., ESPN | (2) | Bradley First Round – Oregon Bracket | W 81–62 | 18–14 | 36 – Crowl | 9 – Crowl | 5 – Hepburn | Kohl Center (3,919) Madison, WI |
| March 19, 2023 11:00 am, ESPN2/ESPN+ | (2) | (3) Liberty Second Round – Oregon Bracket | W 75–71 | 19–14 | 27 – Hepburn | 6 – Wahl | 2 – Crowl | Kohl Center (10,436) Madison, WI |
| March 21, 2023 8:00 p.m., ESPN | (2) | at (1) Oregon Quarterfinals – Oregon Bracket | W 61–58 | 20–14 | 18 – Klesmit | 10 – Crowl | 6 – Wahl | Matthew Knight Arena (3,384) Eugene, OR |
| March 28, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN | (2) | vs. (2) North Texas Semifinals | L 54–56 | 20–15 | 15 – Hepburn | 8 – Crowl | 4 – Hepburn | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | RV | RV | 22 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 18 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23т | 18 | 15 | 15 | 18 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings.

## Player statistics

Individual player statistics (final) :
| | | | Minutes | Minutes | Scoring | Scoring | Total FGs | Total FGs | Total FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | Free Throws | Free Throws | Free Throws | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | | | | | |
| Player | GP | GS | Tot | Avg | Pts | Avg | FG | FGA | Pct | 3FG | 3FA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Avg | A | TO | Blk | Stl | PF |
| Hepburn, Chucky | 35 | 35 | 1119 | 32.0 | 428 | 12.2 | 152 | 403 | .377 | 68 | 168 | .405 | 56 | 78 | .718 | 16 | 83 | 99 | 2.8 | 99 | 52 | 2 | 52 | 75 |
| Crowl, Steven | 35 | 35 | 1069 | 30.5 | 425 | 12.1 | 173 | 339 | .510 | 27 | 88 | .307 | 52 | 82 | .634 | 53 | 190 | 243 | 6.9 | 86 | 56 | 17 | 12 | 74 |
| Essegian, Connor | 35 | 19 | 954 | 27.3 | 411 | 11.7 | 133 | 329 | .404 | 69 | 192 | .359 | 76 | 86 | .884 | 24 | 107 | 131 | 3.7 | 26 | 36 | 1 | 19 | 60 |
| Wahl, Tyler | 32 | 32 | 1008 | 31.5 | 361 | 11.3 | 134 | 317 | .423 | 10 | 34 | .294 | 83 | 131 | .634 | 50 | 151 | 201 | 6.3 | 81 | 71 | 14 | 39 | 84 |
| Klesmit, Max | 33 | 33 | 1059 | 32.1 | 276 | 8.4 | 91 | 215 | .423 | 46 | 120 | .383 | 48 | 69 | .696 | 11 | 77 | 88 | 2.7 | 45 | 32 | 6 | 41 | 78 |
| Davis, Jordan | 35 | 18 | 722 | 20.6 | 179 | 5.1 | 69 | 173 | .399 | 32 | 104 | .308 | 9 | 15 | .600 | 30 | 93 | 123 | 3.5 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 52 |
| Gilmore, Carter | 35 | 3 | 660 | 18.9 | 91 | 2.6 | 37 | 91 | .407 | 5 | 26 | .192 | 12 | 27 | .444 | 37 | 50 | 87 | 2.5 | 33 | 12 | 6 | 19 | 71 |
| Ilver, Markus | 18 | 0 | 118 | 6.6 | 29 | 1.6 | 11 | 37 | .297 | 5 | 21 | .238 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 0.9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Lindsey, Isaac | 24 | 0 | 142 | 5.9 | 35 | 1.5 | 13 | 41 | .317 | 8 | 24 | .333 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 0.8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
| McGee, Kamari | 31 | 0 | 226 | 7.3 | 40 | 1.3 | 14 | 50 | .280 | 5 | 27 | .185 | 7 | 8 | .875 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 0.6 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Neath, Jahcobi | 3 | 0 | 27 | 9.0 | 3 | 1.0 | 1 | 4 | .250 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 | .––– | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Candelino, Ross | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1.0 | 4 | 0.8 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | .––– | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hodges, Chris | 14 | 0 | 30 | 2.1 | 2 | 0.2 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 0 | 0 | .––– | 0 | 0 | .––– | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Gard, Isaac | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | .––– | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Taphorn, Justin | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | .-–– | 0 | 0 | .-–– | 0 | 0 | .––– | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 35 | - | 7150 | - | 2284 | 65.3 | 831 | 2005 | .414 | 276 | 807 | .342 | 346 | 501 | .691 | 278 | 832 | 1110 | 31.7 | 406 | 302 | 52 | 207 | 554 |
| Opponents | 35 | - | 7150 | - | 2225 | 63.6 | 831 | 1871 | .444 | 217 | 686 | .316 | 346 | 515 | .672 | 276 | 952 | 1228 | 35.1 | 358 | 413 | 125 | 158 | 569 |