In their 2023-24 G League season opener, the Wisconsin Herd fell to the Cleveland Charge 116-109 at the Wolstein Center Nov. 10 in Cleveland, Ohio.
In his G League debut, Wisconsin’s Drew Timme had a team-high 17 points and five rebounds to lead the Herd.
Herd guard Stephen Thompson added 16 points and four rebounds while Marques Bolden scored 15 points and grabbed six boards off the bench.
Forward Wenyen Gabriel shot a team-high 6-for-8 from the field, scoring 12 points and totaling nine rebounds. Fellow forward Glen Robinson III, who played his first professional basketball game in nearly two years after coming out of retirement, added seven points and four rebounds off the bench.
As a team, Wisconsin shot 48.3% from the field and only 25.7% from behind the arc. The Herd forced 18 turnovers in the contest and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds (six more than the charge).
The Herd were not able to contain Cleveland Cavaliers two-way player Emoni Bates, who scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Charge. Fellow Cavaliers two-way player Isaiah Mobley had a double-double in his season debut, scoring 23 points and totaling 12 boards.
The Charge had four other players finish in double figures as Cleveland shot 47.4% from the field and 35% from 3-point range.
The two teams traded baskets to begin the first quarter until a 14-foot floater from Timme jump started a 7-0 run to put the Herd ahead 14-6 midway through the period. Wisconsin’s lead grew as high as nine points as the Herd finished the quarter leading 29-20.
Wisconsin shot 53% as a team in the second quarter to build their largest lead of the night at 58-47 with 36 seconds left in the half. Cleveland’s Aleem Ford hit a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining in the period as the Herd went into the break leading 58-50.
The Charge connected on their first four shots of the second half to cut the Herd lead to just two points. Gabriel threw down an alley-oop dunk from Elijah Hughes to put Wisconsin ahead by four points, but Cleveland responded with a 16-2 run behind seven points from Bates to take a double-digit lead. Wisconsin’s Iverson Molinar was able to trim the Charge advantage to two points, but Cleveland ended the quarter on a 9-2 run to take an 89-80 lead.
The fourth quarter began as a back-and-forth battle until the Charge went on an 11-2 run to open up a 14 point advantage. The Herd outscored the Charge 11-6 in the final three minutes of the game, but it was not enough as Wisconsin dropped its first game of the season by seven points.
Highlights from the game can be found at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtfdYt-9uKE&list=PLRF0Qy76Eqm4_iguzfqZrIQvid4clTGA5
