Morris at Bucky

Can’t walk out on them yet. Bucky did their job.

Is there a reason why Essigian only played like 5 minutes in this game?

They shot like 20% from 3 and he’s a 36% shooter from outside.

I mean, it’s Robert Morris not Michigan State.

I thought it might be the effects of the injury but it sounds more like poor defense.

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Wisconsin Badgers Guard Connor Essegian Not Hampered by Injury

Notably, Gard’s comments put a large amount of focus on Essegian’s play rather than his injury. Essegian suffered a back injury in Wisconsin’s season-opener against Arkansas State. The former three-star prospect did not return to the game but has not missed a game since. However, his playing time has dropped dramatically from last season when he earned a spot in Gard’s starting rotation.

Gard mentioned in his post-game comments that Essegian had been practicing “more consistently” over the past two days, implying that Essegian had been taking some time off during the week to manage his injury. In practice, Essegian has been taking reps on the scout team to “let him really run around and get the back loose,” but his back “is fine – he just needs to get back into a rhythm.”

Seemingly, Essegian’s struggles are not due to his injury, at least not directly. Perhaps, he needs to “just get back into a rhythm” that he fell out of due to not taking as many reps as usual during the week. Gard seems to be expecting a lot more defensively out of Essegian than he has seen so far.