WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.V. – Max Klesmit saw dollar signs in his eye.

The free market economy of the transfer portal was good for a few of Klesmit’s former teammates over the offseason, cashing in on the unregulated spending of name, image, and likeness for deals. Klesmit was ready to collect, too, but he figured his big payoff was coming after seeing how the University of Wisconsin was changing, becoming more geared to a shooter like him.

Through five games, Klesmit is reaping the benefits of his decision to stay.

On pace for its highest scoring average since 1970-71, No.19 Wisconsin (5-0) enters Friday’s semifinals against UCF (4-0) in the Greenbrier Tip-Off averaging 88.2 points per game

Klesmit has been at the forefront of Wisconsin’s offensive evolution and one of its key ingredients. Wisconsin’s top three scorers are all averaging a career-best in scoring, including Klesmit at 14.4 points per game.

“It’s never one person that makes the bucket or score happen because it’s all five guys on the floor happen to do something right,” Klesmit said. “Our ability to have that team-first mentality, putting your pride aside and putting the team first, is something this team has taken to the next level so far to start the year.

“That’s only going to grow even more, so I think the ceiling is pretty limitless for this squad. We just got to keep our head down and keep working.”

Few offenses in college basketball have evolved more than Wisconsin over the past three seasons. With new rule changes put in place to emphasize scoring, including the block-charge call that made it harder for defenders to draw offensive fouls, the Badgers could no longer survive on a slow-tempo, low-possession approach.

Enter former UW all-conference guard Kirk Penney, who joined head coach Greg Gard as a special assistant last November after retiring from a 15-year professional career. His task? Help tweak an offense that averaged 65.3 points in 2022 and lost in the NIT semifinals largely because it didn’t score in the final 9:07 of the game.

Gard and Penney worked together to bring freedom of movement within the offense with the help of ball screens, creating advantages through continuous wing and middle ball screens between a guard and a post player. Each screen had multiple actions coming off it, freeing players for scoring opportunities through driving lanes to the rim or drawing defenders away from the basket.

The offense spread the floor to create driving angles, rolling angles, and post touches, creating multiple options to allow multiple people to thrive.

“He has seen a lot, a lot of basketball,” Klesmit said of Penney, who picked up UW’s current offense during a professional stint in Israel over 15 years ago. “He’s played at a high level in his career, and he knows a lot of people who have played even higher basketball. That’s someone I just like to sit around and talk to. He’s elevated our offensive game, our offensive mindset drastically. It’s a confidence mentality that he preached at the end of it. He pumps confidence in the guys who have the ability to shoot it.”

In the first season with the offense, Wisconsin averaged the most points in 30 years (74.7 points), raised its field goal percentage from 41.4 to 46.1, and finished the year ranked 17th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency.

With a full offseason to study the nuances of its ball-screen continuity offense, Wisconsin has scored at least 79 points in all three games, has had three players score at least 25 points in a game, and generates its offense from post touches, free throws, or perimeter shots.

UW is shooting 47.7 percent from the floor, 54.7 percent from two, 88.6 percent from the line, and 39.1 percent on an average of 10.1 threes attempted per game. All those numbers are highs covering the last three seasons.

A sign the offense was Wisconsin putting 103 points in 82 possessions on No.9 Arizona last Friday. It’s the most points UW scored against a ranked opponent in program history and tied for UW's highest-possession game in the KenPom database (from 1996-97).

One of Klesmit’s traits last season was catching fire in a hurry. He scored a game-high 21 points (all in the first half) in a victory over No.3 Marquette, 18 points (all in the second half) in a road win at Ohio State, and 20 of his 26 points in a 4:30 span against Indiana.

Now the veteran combo guard in UW’s offense, Klesmit wants to set the table, find open guys, and take the open three.

“Everybody has the opportunity (in our offense) to play to their strengths, and I think he’s gotten better at that,” Gard said of Klesmit. “He’s gotten better at playing with vision. A year ago, when we put this (offense in) that he had a one-track mind in it. Now he sees other parts of the floor, he’s got a little bit of a flow game. His confidence and his knowledge of it hasn’t taken a big step forward.”

His comfort was evident in a 79-67 victory over Montana State on November 7. Klesmit tied his UW career high of 26 points but, unlike last year’s scoring bursts, this night was more workmanlike. He went 6 of 11 from three-point range, but Klesmit scored constantly (11 in the first half, 15 in the second), went 6-for-6 from the line, and attacked the rim on aggressive drives throughout the night.

It’s an approach Klesmit hopes will keep him as a constant scoring option in his final season.

“I’ve played a lot of different styles of college basketball,” Klesmit said. “I know how to play different types of games, whether it’s going to be a rock fight or a track meet. I think I got a good mix and a good feel for how the game is going to go from the jump and kind of prepared going into it. It’s just something that you improve on every year, something you want to get better on, and something you work on.”

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook