Max Klesmit injury update: Greg Gard reveals diagnosis on Wisconsin guard

Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit entered Tuesday night’s matchup against Washington with a lower leg injury. He started the game but played just five minutes in total before being shut down entirely.

After the win, Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard revealed the status of Klesmit’s injury, and whether there’s a potential for him to be healthy in time for Sunday’s game against Michigan State.

“Yeah, just, he’s had that for, I don’t know that it’s too serious, but sometimes he can’t get it loose. So, once he came out it was bothering him, so he just decided it was gonna be it,” Gard explained. “Today, we have four days here, and it’s been getting better, but, for tonight he couldn’t get it loose early in the game.”

Klesmit did not see the court in the second half. He was ruled questionable to return in the second half but ultimately remained on the bench. That designation could hint that he was held out as a precautionary measure as the game was already well in hand by the end of the first half.

Wisconsin ultimately defeated Washington 88-62 as four Badgers scored in double figures en route to victory. They were led in scoring by John Blackwell, who scored 24 points and logged 10 rebounds during the winning effort.

The victory improved the Badgers to 22-6 on the season, and 12-5 in Big Ten Conference action. They’re 1.5 games behind both Michigan and Michigan State for the top spot in the conference as the final stretch of the regular season approaches.

Having won six of its last seven games heading into March, with the lone exception coming in overtime to Oregon last weekend, the Badgers have solidified themselves as a contender in their league.

That’s evidenced by the comments made by Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle after the game, praising Wisconsin for having a winning culture under Gard’s leadership.

“Obviously, we have a really really good program here, an unbelievably sound foundation, and our players are the leaders of it,” Gard said of Sprinkle’s comments. “We’ve had great players come through here, but, your player-led teams are always better than your coach-led teams. They take a lot of pride in this place, like players and coaches of the past, so it’s just our opportunity in this time frame to keep pushing this forward, and raising the bar.”

As Wisconsin continues its march toward the NCAA Tournament, they’ll hope to have Klesmit back in time for Sunday’s massive Big Ten game against the Spartans.

Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. ET live on CBS.