Essegian scores 23, Wisconsin holds off Michigan 64-59

MADISON. Wisc. (AP) — Freshman Connor Essegian scored a career-high 23 points, including 5 of 6 free throws in the final 45 seconds, and Wisconsin held off Michigan 64-59 on Tuesday night despite missing its last 15 shots.

The game started with a minute of silence for the campus shooting at Michigan State that killed three people and wounded five others on Monday night.

Essegian's basket at the 10:45 was the last one for the Badgers, and his two free throws at 10:27 following a technical foul on Michigan coach Juwan Howard, capped a personal 6-0 run for a 54-42 lead.

From there, Wisconsin made 10 of 12 free throws, just enough to pull out the win. Twice the Wolverines had free-throw opportunities to tie the game, once with 4:10 to play and again less than two minutes to go, but failed to do so. They also made just two of their last 11 field-goal attempts, including eight straight misses.

Steven Crowl had 11 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Badgers (15-10, 7-8 Big Ten Conference), who were coming off an overtime loss to Nebraska after blowing a 17-point lead. Max Klesmit added 10 points. Leading scorer Chucky Hepburn, averaging 13.2 points, had just two on 1-of-9 shooting but had a critical steal with 16 seconds left and the lead at 61-57.

Kobe Bufkin scored 21 points for the Wolverines (14-12, 8-7), who were coming off a 62-61 loss to No. 18 Indiana. Hunter Dickinson had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Wisconsin was ahead 39-38 five minutes into the second half when Michigan committed turnovers on five of six possessions. Crowl and Kamari McGee combined for nine points to stretch the Wolverines' lead to 48-40. After a Michigan layup, Essegian had his run for the big lead of the game.

But the technical seemed to bring Michigan to life. Dug McDaniel capped a 10-0 run by making 1 of 2 free throws that cut the deficit to 55-54.

Will Tschetter, in his first collegiate start in place of Terrance Williams II, who was out with a deep knee bruise, missed two free throws with 1:17 to play when the Wolverines trailed 57-55.

Michigan finished 6 of 10 from the foul line, all coming in the last seven minutes.

The Wolverines made their last five shots of the first half, two of them 3-pointers, to erase a seven-point deficit, taking a 32-31 lead on Bufkin's 3-pointer five seconds before the break.

The finish helped push Michigan to 50% shooting, including 4 of 8 from distance. The Badgers were 5 of 10 behind the arc but only shot 7 of 23 inside. They were 1 of 9 to close out the half after taking a 27-20 lead on Klesmit's 3-pointer at the 5:31 mark.

Wisconsin is home against Rutgers on Saturday.

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