La Crosse native Jordan Davis had five points and three rebounds off the bench, as the University of Wisconisn men’s basketball team beat Michigan 64-59 on Tuesday.
Freshman Connor Essegian scored a career-high 23 points, including 5 of 6 free throws in the final 45 seconds, for Wisconsin, which missed its last 15 shots.
The two teams combined to shoot 2-for-26 from the field down the stretch.
Essegian’s basket at the 10:45 was the last one for the Badgers (15-10), and his two free throws at 10:27 following a technical foul on Michigan (14-12) 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.
Steven Crowl had 11 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Badgers, who were coming off an overtime loss to Nebraska after blowing a 17-point lead.
Wisconsin next plays at 11 a.m. Saturday at home against Rutgers.