After going undefeated the first two months of the regular season, the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines lost a high-scoring Big Ten battle to Wisconsin at Crisler Center, 91-88.
Wisconsin is led by Nick Boyd, who played under Dusty May at Florida Atlantic for three seasons, and John Blackwell. The two guards who have combined to average 36.9 points per game, as that duo is the bulk of the Badgers offense.
Returning back to a raucous Crisler Center, where the Wolverines entered this game collectively outscoring
opponents by 260 points at home, Michigan came out with good energy and effectively pounded the ball inside. Wisconsin opened the second half scoring the ball at an ultra-efficient clip, but Michigan didn’t back down. The squads went bucket for bucket for most of the second half, with the Badgers pulling away late to seal the victory.
Here are four takeaways from the loss.
Michigan could not stop John Blackwell
The Badgers were crazy efficient in the second half and kept hitting tough shot after tough shot. The player of the game was Blackwell (26 points), scoring consistently on one of the best defenses in the country.
Every time Michigan tried to grab momentum back, Blackwell would either score it himself or create an open look for the Badgers. He was borderline unstoppable, getting clutch bucket after clutch bucket to will the Badgers to victory.
We saw some cracks in Michigan’s defense in that Penn State win earlier this week, and after giving up a scoring outburst like this, it may be time for Michigan to retool its defensive game plan for scoring guards like Blackwell.
Wisconsin opens second half on fire, but Michigan stays in the fight
The Badgers moved the ball well all throughout this game, but especially to start the second half. Wisconsin made five three-pointers on its first five possessions of the first half, with big men Aleksas Bieliauskas and Nolan Winter knocking down wide-open looks. I don’t think the defense was bad on these possessions watching live, the Wolverines were just a step late on rotations and Wisconsin capitalized.
Wisconsin scored 22 points in the first four minutes of the second half to jump out to a 59-55 lead with 15:26 to play. This stretch was especially entertaining, with Boyd knocking down shots and Elliot Cadeau matching him on clutch makes to make sure the Wisconsin lead didn’t get too big.
Cadeau made a bunch of tough shots and took over for Michigan offensively in the second half. All 19 points of his came in the second half, with the Michigan faithful roaring behind him as the UNC transfer just kept knocking down shots.
Wisconsin made 15 of its 32 attempts from three, but the Badgers never took a big lead because of Cadeau. Combine that with Michigan getting stops later in the half and scoring consistently, and the Wolverines stopped Wisconsin from going on a massive run.
Wisconsin threw its best punch in the second half, but like a great boxer, Michigan was ready for it and countered effectively. That resiliency is what separates great teams from really good ones. Unfortunately, Michigan couldn’t get enough stops late to avoid the upset.
Going to Aday and Morez early and often
As has been the case all season long, Michigan had a size advantage in this game and tried to exploit that advantage early. Aday Mara got off to a great start, scoring five of Michigan’s first eight points in the first two game minutes, including a dunk off a pick-and-roll with Yaxel Lendeborg and a pretty hook shot in the post. Michigan had six buckets on its first eight possessions, with Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. scoring around the rim early as well.
When Mara sat down, Johnson became the focal point of the offense, lowering his shoulder and creating space for easy buckets inside. He even looked like Chris Webber on one drop-step slam.
Johnson was doing it on both ends, recording a sweet chase-down block less than two minutes after that slam.
Both big men were putting on a clinic in the post, scoring on drop-steps, baby hooks, turnaround jumpers or easy slams after gaining great position. They combined to score 27 points, with Johnson making six consecutive shots at one point.
The Big Ten refs were letting both teams play physical inside, and Michigan took advantage by scoring 38 points in the paint, 12 more than Wisconsin. The three-point barrage from the Badgers countered these Michigan buckets, but Michigan was still able to score consistently inside, a saving grace in a high-scoring affair like this.
Turnover problems persist, but improve drastically in the second half
Michigan had turnover problems early on in the win over Penn State, and those turnovers issues have not gone away. After turning the ball over 11 times total in the win over the Nittany Lions, Michigan turned the ball over eight times in the first half alone vs Wisconsin. A few of them came from a disjointed offense late in the half, as Wisconsin went from down 14 with 7:38 in the half to being down by one point at halftime.
That comeback happened with Lendeborg, Cadeau and Trey McKenney all dealing with foul trouble, leaving Michigan without some of its most relied-upon shot creators. Sloppy play offensively allowed Wisconsin to climb back in the game, as Michigan lost its rhythm late in the half.
Michigan turned the ball over just once in the final 20 minutes, which definitely helped this one stay close.
Up Next
The Wolverines are heading to the West Coast next week to play Washington (Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 10:30 p.m. EST) and Oregon (Saturday, Jan. 17 at 4 p.m. EST).
