Max Klesmit injury update: Wisconsin guard's status for Penn State game revealed in report

Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit will not be available for the Badgers on Saturday vs. Penn State, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports. Klesmit has been dealing with a lower-body injury, and this will be the third consecutive game he has missed dealing with the ailment.

Thamel reports that Klesmit is expected to be cleared in time for next week’s Big Ten Conference Tournament. He averages 9.7 points, 2.7 assists and 2.4 assists for Wisconsin as a fifth-year senior. His scoring total is third-best on the team behind John Tonje (19.1 ppg) and John Blackwell (15.5).

Klesmit’s injury occured during the 88-62 win over Washington on Feb. 25. He started the game but played just five minutes in total before being shut down entirely.

Klesmit did not see the court in the second half. While he never retook the court, he was ruled questionable to return in the second half but ultimately remained on the bench. That designation might have hinted that he was held out as a precautionary measure as the game was already well in hand by the end of the first half. However, it has turned into a multi-game absence for the senior.

“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,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard explained after the Washington win. “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.”

Heading into Saturday’s matchup, Wisconsin earned a bit of a boost to their Big Ten ranking when Purdue lost to Illinois. That moved Wisconsin to the No. 4-seed line in the conference tournament projections, while the Boilermakers dropped to the No. 5-seed. Notably, the top four seeds in the Big Ten Conference Tournament are given double byes into the quarterfinals, while seeds 5-8 only receive one bye.

For Penn State, they’ve already been eliminated from the conference tournament. That means Saturday will serve as the final game of the Nittany Lions season. They’re currently 15-15 overall, with a 5-14 record against Big Ten competition. They also have nothing to lose and would love to play spoiler to the Badgers on senior day.

Tip-off between the Badgers and Nittany Lions in the regular season finale is set for 1 p.m. ET. It will air live on Peacock.