Max Klesmit has never participated in the NCAA Tournament, one of the few things remaining on the fourth-year junior’s college basketball bucket list.
He’s one of the reasons why the Badgers are a lock to hear their name called later this evening, and one of the reasons why Wisconsin is suddenly surging into the field of 68.
With his team a combination of banged up or fouled up, Klesmit has filled two different roles in two vastly different games and thrived, a reason fifth-seed Wisconsin (22-12) will be playing for the fourth Big Ten Tournament championship in program history when it faces second-seeded Illinois (25-8) this afternoon at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
“He's a warrior,” head coach Greg Gard said. “He's got a huge heart, and he's gutty, and he's a competitor.”
Wisconsin’s final possession of overtime confirmed his coach’s comments. Trailing 75-74 in overtime, but with control of the ball after Chucky Hepburn’s drawn offensive foul, Klesmit dribbled in the paint before meeting resistance. After resetting with a kickoff, Klesmit probed again with better luck, getting past Loyer on the perimeter, seeing 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey sagging toward the low block and having guard Lance Smith’s momentum going into the opposite direction.
Klesmit slowed near the top of the paint, unleashed a right-handed floater over Smith and Edey, and watched it bounce off the back of the rim, off the backboard and through with 4.8 seconds left.
“Just got a good look at the end,” Klesmit said.
When Jones’ desperation heave was off the mark, it sparked a Final-Four level celebration for Wisconsin, a pent-up release that had been building since early February. Losing eight of 11 games after rising to No.6 in the country, seven of the defeats came by single digits.
Two of those losses came against Purdue, including a 78-70 defeat on the road last Sunday when the Badgers were 5-for-24 from three and let the Boilermakers’ three guards – Loyer, Jones and Braden Smith – score 38 points and hit six three-pointers.
Six days later, the threes slightly improved (7-for-32) but the defense was massively better (25 points and two three-pointers).
“Our ability to learn from it, take the experience that we've had in the regular season, and apply it during games, it's been really fun just to know that we have in that in our back pocket,” Klesmit said. “Our ability to learn on the fly, pick different things up in the scout in preparation, and things like that. It's been fun just to see our growth kind of throughout the whole season and our maturity kind of come out as we've kept playing.”
Klesmit anchored Wisconsin’s offense in Friday’s quarterfinal win over Northwestern but in a different way. With Hepburn sitting out to rest a lower-body injury, Klesmit tied for the team-high in minutes (35), finished with a team-best seven assists to three turnovers, and scratched out 10 points on an off-shooting night.
With Hepburn returning Saturday against Purdue, Klesmit’s efficiency returned. He hit his opening shot, taking two dribbles in from the three-point line and pulling up for a foul line jumper after getting space against Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer. The same with his second three-point shot, getting a screen from Carter Gilmore to gain separation from Loyer.
They were the same shots Klesmit was hitting when he caught fire against Marquette (21 pts, 6-for-12), Northwestern (24, 9-for-13), and Indiana (26, 8-for-11) but had been inconsistent since the beginning of February when UW’s skid started.
“He put time in,” Gard said. “He's in the gym. He's working. It's a tool and a skill you can't let sit idle and collect dust. Whether you're cooking, shooting the ball, or struggling, you still have to put in the work, and he's done that. I think you see guys that have hit their way out of it, so to speak.
“If you're a golfer and you're shanking the ball, you don't get better by not going to the range or leaving your clubs in your garage. You've got to go work at it.”
Growing up in Neenah, Wis., Klesmit was no different than most sports fans in March, filling out his NCAA Tournament bracket and having his eyes glued to the television over three weekends. His theory was to pick as many upsets as possible, break a tie by the coolness factor of the mascot, and usually advance the Badgers toward the Final Four.
Now that he’ll finally be a tournament participant, he won’t fill out a bracket this season, but he’s given people a reason to think his team can have some postseason staying power.
“There's not a better group of guys I'd want to be around,” Klesmit said. “I've never really been this far in March in my career. I just want to keep playing with the dudes we've got in this locker room. It's been a lot of fun.”
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