The Wisconsin Badgers fell just short of a massive comeback in a 68-65 loss to the Michigan Wolverines, ending their bid for a Big Ten Tournament Championship in the semifinals.
It was a tight game through the first 20 minutes, with Wisconsin’s defense and three-point shooting carrying them early. Then, after Michigan jumped out to a big lead in the second half, Wisconsin found its way to rally back yet again before Yaxel Lendeborg hit the go-ahead three with 0.4 seconds remaining to send the Wolverines
to the championship game.
With that, the Badgers will now await their seeding on Sunday afternoon and will look forward to the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
Here are three quick takeaways from the Badgers loss to Michigan on Saturday in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
Bigs of the future
With Nolan Winter out after suffering an ankle injury last week against the Maryland Terrapins, the Badgers were going to face their fair share of challenges, starting with the Purdue Boilermakers in the regular-season finale and carrying over to the Big Ten Tournament.
Wisconsin was a considerable underdog going into that Purdue game, and the size factor was a question mark, given the Boilermakers’ frontcourt consisting of Trey-Kauffman Renn, Oscar Cluff, and Daniel Jacobsen.
But the Badgers outdueled the Boilermakers, with Austin Rapp and Aleksas Bieliauskas coming up huge in that one with 33 combined points and quality defense in the paint.
On Friday, they faced another tough challenge with the vaunted frontcourt of the Illinois Fighting Illini, but Rapp and Bieliauskas held their own defensively and on the glass, as Wisconsin outrebounded its opponents and got more offensive rebounds. It was a huge game of growth for both players, who were tested with heavy minutes in an overtime battle and played their roles for Wisconsin.
But on Saturday, Wisconsin faced its biggest challenge yet: the No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines, who also had a vaunted frontcourt of their own with the three-headed monster of Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg, and Morez Johnson Jr.
In the first half, both players were exceptional defensively, limiting paint touches and offensive rebounds, as Michigan was just 4 of 15 inside the arc. Bieliauskas was crucial early with three three-pointers, helping a Wisconsin offense that was struggling to score on the interior.
Then, after struggling all tournament, it was Rapp who brought the Badgers back from a major deficit in the second half, hitting six straight three-pointers as Wisconsin battled all the way until the final play of the game.
There’s still a lot of growth for both players, but Wisconsin got a glimpse at its frontcourt of the future this week with Winter out, and both Rapp and Bieliauskas were huge for the Badgers.
Three-point shooting
Given Michigan’s size and dominance in the paint defensively, Wisconsin knew they were going to have to get hot and shoot well from three to stay in this one, even with good defense.
In the first half, the Badgers were just 4 of 14 inside the arc, getting a number of layup attempts blocked, but they shot a respectable 7 of 17 from deep, which kept them in the game. Aleksas Bieliauskas, who had his breakout moment when Wisconsin played Michigan back in January, was hot early with three triples, while John Blackwell had a pair of his own in the first half.
Wisconsin got some great looks from three, but the rest of the team shot just 2 of 10 from beyond the arc. The killer was Braeden Carrington and Austin Rapp, whose Big Ten Tournament struggles continued as the duo went 0 of 7 from the field in the first half and 0 of 5 from three. Through the first half, the duo had shot just 7 of 40 (17.5 percent) from the field in the Tournament.
In the second half, though, Wisconsin fell behind by 15 over the first 10 minutes of the period as they really struggled from deep. The Badgers started the half only 1 of 10 from beyond the arc, as their legs looked tired. That allowed Michigan to run in transition and build up an early lead in the second half.
But, as we’ve seen time and time again, the Badgers found a second gear, and it was led by the two players they needed to heat up the most: Austin Rapp and Braeden Carrington. The duo suddenly started to catch fire, hitting six threes as the Badgers mounted another comeback, with Rapp hitting four threes in a row to tie the game up at 56 apiece.
Rapp ultimately hit six consecutive threes, which kept Wisconsin in it all the way till the end, where Nick Boyd even hit a huge game-tying three before Yaxel Lendeborg got the go-ahead bucket in the final second to secure the win for Michigan.
Second half comebacks
What is it with this Badgers team and second-half comebacks?
Once again, Wisconsin found itself in a deep hole after a slow start to the second half, trailing 54-39 with just under 10 minutes to go. This time, with shots falling short and Michigan winning with pace, it felt like the Badgers run at the Big Ten Tournament was over.
And yet, they found a groove, thanks to shooting from Austin Rapp and Braeden Carrington, who both quickly hit threes to cut the lead to nine within a minute. From there, Wisconsin chipped at the lead with good defense and an outburst from Rapp. Just over four minutes later, the Badgers and Wolverines were tied at 56 apiece, with Wisconsin going on an incredible 17-2 run.
From there, they battled till the end, losing by three on a Yaxel Lendeborg triple with 0.4 seconds remaining, but there’s something to be said about the fight and determination of the team, even when they looked fatigued, to come within three of a top-four team in the country.
This one won’t officially count in the record books as a comeback, but Wisconsin found a way yet again to come back against an elite opponent, which bodes well for their optics in March.
