Klesmit was watching from afar in losses at Northwestern on Monday and Maryland on Wednesday after he needed stitches to close a cut in his upper lip suffered in the Jan. 17 game against Penn State.

Klesmit is on track to return to the lineup Saturday when the Badgers play Illinois at the Kohl Center. But it's safe to say UW missed the junior guard's presence, too.

"His voice here in practice today alone, you could tell the difference with him here," Badgers coach Greg Gard said Friday. "He's definitely welcome back."

Klesmit, who started all 17 games before his injury, has averaged 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 30 minutes per game.

His return should boost UW at both ends of the court, but Gard pointed out Klesmit's defensive communication as a factor.

"Just bringing that energy, bringing the pop that I think I can bring to this team, offensively and defensively," Klesmit said. "It's not all about putting the ball in the basket; we've got to be able to play both ends of the floor."

He took an elbow to the face from Kanye Clary on defense late in the first half against Penn State at the Kohl Center. There was no foul called on the play.

The game continued to the other end of the court, where Klesmit got a towel from the Penn State bench.

"About three or four of them were standing up — I don't know if it was trying to get the game stopped or just trying to get me some type of help to get the blood picked up," Klesmit said. "They were trying to do their best, so I appreciate that from them."

Officials didn't stop play until 30 seconds after the contact. It took more than three minutes to clean blood from various spots on the floor.

He got stitches to repair his upper left lip. Medical personnel were concerned about a possible concussion, but he didn't suffer any dental damage.

"My mom was really happy about that, that we didn't really have to go through a tooth place and have braces again," he said.

Klesmit returned to a non-contact practice Thursday, and Gard said after Friday's practice that all signs pointed to the transfer from Wofford being able to play against Illinois.

The appreciation for Klesmit is high among his teammates.

"He does all the little things for us that might not show up in the stat sheet all the time," forward Steven Crowl said after Wednesday's loss at Maryland. "I don't know if he gets as much respect as he deserves, but he brings that tenacity for us, and I think we really miss him for sure."

He missed them back.

"Being alone, by yourself, it's a little boring," Klesmit said. "So it's good to be back, see everybody again, be in the gym."