They doled Michigan their first loss of the season, but on Saturday afternoon it was Michigan's turn to get themselves a bit of revenge for that first meeting. In a very similar game, Michigan and Wisconsin were locked in a close battle until Michigan pulled away by the end of the game, just like Wisconsin did in Madison. Despite the low-scoring, it was a game of high thrills and plenty of excitement, boosted for the home fans by the fact that it resulted in a Michigan win.
Game Story:
The game started and it was the Ethan Happ show to get things underway. From the first tip to the first media timeout, Happ was the story of the game. He scored eight of Wisconsin's first ten points, all on post moves around Jon Teske, and helped give Wisconsin a 10-5 lead early. D'Mitrik Trice found himself a good look coming out of the timeout as well and buried a three. The 13-5 lead would be the largest either team would have until the end of the game. Michigan got a short 4-0 run, but Happ finished around the rim yet again and made the score 15-9 into the next media timeout, or 10-9 Happ over Michigan. Still, Michigan clawed back into the game through an Isaiah Livers three, Teske lay-up, Zavier Simpson two, and then they took the lead with another bucket by Teske. By the time of the next stoppage of play, Michigan had gained the lead at 20-19 thanks to an 11-4 run over about three minutes. Things stabilized in going back-and-forth, but after two big buckets, Happ picked up his second personal foul with two minutes left in the half. Immediately after he checked out, Teske drilled a three, blocked Aleem Ford's close range effort, and allowed Jordan Poole to take it coast-to-coast for a lay-up. Kobe King followed a miss at the other end with a tip-in, but Michigan did brilliantly to recover from some early hits and level it at 27-27 at the half.
Neither team scored in the first two 2:27 of the second half, but Happ did pick up his third personal foul. That meant Happ wold head to the bench until about nine minutes remaining. That combined with a hook-and-hold on Brad Davison, meaning Teske hit both free throws and Charles Matthews hit a mid range two put Michigan up 31-27 and in control of the second half. The second half was hotly contested, Michigan did not push their lead past five till near the very end of the game. The stretch leading into Happ's return in the game saw seven possessions for the two teams combined in-a-row end with points on the board, including six straight Michigan points by Matthews. The second half was Matthews' show, with some help from Teske, but the big shots were Matthews'. After the timeout he responded to a Davison tough three with another two. Then after a Happ move and finish with contact, he regrouped the team and found Teske for two. After Nate Reuvers hit a three to cut it back to a 49-48 game, Charles Matthews finished strong at the rim with a dunk. Happ hit another two with 4:17 left to make it 51-50, but Wisconsin would be stuck at the fifty mark for just over four minutes. Simpson hit a big driving lay-up, then Michigan played great defense resulting in three lost trips for the Badgers. Michigan gave the ball to Matthews, and he delivered twice in a row. This includes the dagger with 26 seconds left and the shot clock expiring as he pulled up for two and swished it to make it 57-50. Wisconsin would miss on their end, Livers hit a couple of free throws, and while Davison broke the scoring duck with a lay-up, Michigan finished the game with a Poole-to-Livers exclamation point alley-oop to give Michigan the win by the final score of 62-51.
What Happened:
Both sides played remarkably solid basketball and the performances were nothing at all to scoff at. Michigan went zero-for-ten from three in the second half but countered that by playing great defense, and finally getting necessary offense out of Charles Matthews -- more on him later. Despite the struggles from deep in the second half, Michigan only gave up four threes as well. This is just one fewer than the amount they allowed in Wisconsin, but the difference is that instead of role players like Kobe King and Aleem Ford playing themselves into the game by hitting a pair of threes, it was D'Mitrik Trice hitting a pair of shots from outside, then getting clamped down for the rest of the game as he went just one-for-seven inside the arc. Throughout the game, the thought process seemed to be to silence the supporting cast around Ethan Happ and force him to win the game. With Happ forced out with foul trouble for a long stretch in the second half, that allowed Michigan to really hone in on that supporting cast of Badgers. Happ only scored four points in the second half, a testament to Jon Teske's defensive ability, as Happ missed plenty of looks around the bucket and went just two-for-nine in the second half with just one assist and a turnover. His five turnovers were huge as with limited help on the big man given by Michigan off-ball defenders, it forced him to create constantly for himself with no opportunities to kick the ball out for an open shooter. The defensive strategy worked. Happ got eighteen points and eleven rebounds, but this will certainly not go down as one of his finest performances.
For the Wolverines, the second half saw an offensive explosion out of Charles Matthews. In the first half, Matthews went just one-for-four with two points and a turnover. With Ignas Brazdeikis having a similarly rough game, one of Michigan's two key struggling scorers would have to step things up. Matthews was the man to do so. What followed was a second half where Matthews went eight-for-eleven with sixteen points, lighting up the field like Michigan fans had not seen out of the senior forward since early in this season. His step-back two to ice the game showcased the clutch gene that Michigan fans saw against Minnesota and hoped would get the forward back into form. During a stretch where Wisconsin threw (generally) either King or Brevin Pritzl at him, Matthews showed himself as far too crafty for either defender. Credit must also go to Teske too, whose defense totally threw off Happ in the second half. He played a bit more physical on the big man but also on offense he was as important as he is tall. He finished with seventeen points, just one less than Matthews, and was an impressive four-for-five from the free throw line and also snared twelve rebounds to give him a double-double. Before the final fifteen seconds, of Michigan's thirty second-half points, just four came from players not named Teske or Matthews, and two of those (a Jordan Poole lay-up) came directly from Matthews tipping the ball out after a Michigan miss to keep play alive. The two played a vital role in taking over the second half and handing Michigan the victory on their home court.
Speaking of the supporting cast for Michigan, let's talk a couple of the other four players who played meaningful minutes. First, Ignas Brazdeikis struggled again vs. Wisconsin. The freshman had a nice reverse lay-up where he beat Happ baseline to score on his first shot of the game, but after that he went cold. He finished the game just one-for-nine with those two points and just three rebounds. He also lost Reuvers on his lone three that could have been more disastrous than it was. The Wisconsin defense really has troubled him in his short college career, but those are still the only two games where Brazdeikis has finished with a single field goal, or none. Someone who was able to turn it on for Michigan when needed was Isaiah Livers. In his sixteen minutes, he provided a valuable spark for the Wolverines with nine points on only three shots to go with four rebounds. His ability to play a little bit of center as well gave Michigan added mobility on the bigger post threat of Happ or Reuvers for a minute or two. The two guards, Zavier Simpson and Jordan Poole, also may not have lit it up offensively, but Simpson's continued defensive brilliance and show-running of the offense make him invaluable to Michigan. He played all forty minutes and put in a fantastic defensive shift on the Wisconsin guards. You would, of course, like to see more offensive production from the other three starters, but they did their jobs when necessary and each man was still just as important.
What's Next:
Michigan travel to State College to take on bottom-place Penn State in the return fixture from earlier this season on Tuesday the 12th at 8:30 PM. Elite Michigan teams have lost at last-place Penn State sides (i.e. 2012-13) and this is a PSU team that has pushed Purdue into overtime and, most recently, only lost at Ohio State by four. As of late, they have looked much improved from earlier in the season and will hope to pull off a huge upset at home.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for plenty more Michigan basketball coverage, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Liverpool FC coverage as well!
Game Story:
The game started and it was the Ethan Happ show to get things underway. From the first tip to the first media timeout, Happ was the story of the game. He scored eight of Wisconsin's first ten points, all on post moves around Jon Teske, and helped give Wisconsin a 10-5 lead early. D'Mitrik Trice found himself a good look coming out of the timeout as well and buried a three. The 13-5 lead would be the largest either team would have until the end of the game. Michigan got a short 4-0 run, but Happ finished around the rim yet again and made the score 15-9 into the next media timeout, or 10-9 Happ over Michigan. Still, Michigan clawed back into the game through an Isaiah Livers three, Teske lay-up, Zavier Simpson two, and then they took the lead with another bucket by Teske. By the time of the next stoppage of play, Michigan had gained the lead at 20-19 thanks to an 11-4 run over about three minutes. Things stabilized in going back-and-forth, but after two big buckets, Happ picked up his second personal foul with two minutes left in the half. Immediately after he checked out, Teske drilled a three, blocked Aleem Ford's close range effort, and allowed Jordan Poole to take it coast-to-coast for a lay-up. Kobe King followed a miss at the other end with a tip-in, but Michigan did brilliantly to recover from some early hits and level it at 27-27 at the half.
Neither team scored in the first two 2:27 of the second half, but Happ did pick up his third personal foul. That meant Happ wold head to the bench until about nine minutes remaining. That combined with a hook-and-hold on Brad Davison, meaning Teske hit both free throws and Charles Matthews hit a mid range two put Michigan up 31-27 and in control of the second half. The second half was hotly contested, Michigan did not push their lead past five till near the very end of the game. The stretch leading into Happ's return in the game saw seven possessions for the two teams combined in-a-row end with points on the board, including six straight Michigan points by Matthews. The second half was Matthews' show, with some help from Teske, but the big shots were Matthews'. After the timeout he responded to a Davison tough three with another two. Then after a Happ move and finish with contact, he regrouped the team and found Teske for two. After Nate Reuvers hit a three to cut it back to a 49-48 game, Charles Matthews finished strong at the rim with a dunk. Happ hit another two with 4:17 left to make it 51-50, but Wisconsin would be stuck at the fifty mark for just over four minutes. Simpson hit a big driving lay-up, then Michigan played great defense resulting in three lost trips for the Badgers. Michigan gave the ball to Matthews, and he delivered twice in a row. This includes the dagger with 26 seconds left and the shot clock expiring as he pulled up for two and swished it to make it 57-50. Wisconsin would miss on their end, Livers hit a couple of free throws, and while Davison broke the scoring duck with a lay-up, Michigan finished the game with a Poole-to-Livers exclamation point alley-oop to give Michigan the win by the final score of 62-51.
What Happened:
Both sides played remarkably solid basketball and the performances were nothing at all to scoff at. Michigan went zero-for-ten from three in the second half but countered that by playing great defense, and finally getting necessary offense out of Charles Matthews -- more on him later. Despite the struggles from deep in the second half, Michigan only gave up four threes as well. This is just one fewer than the amount they allowed in Wisconsin, but the difference is that instead of role players like Kobe King and Aleem Ford playing themselves into the game by hitting a pair of threes, it was D'Mitrik Trice hitting a pair of shots from outside, then getting clamped down for the rest of the game as he went just one-for-seven inside the arc. Throughout the game, the thought process seemed to be to silence the supporting cast around Ethan Happ and force him to win the game. With Happ forced out with foul trouble for a long stretch in the second half, that allowed Michigan to really hone in on that supporting cast of Badgers. Happ only scored four points in the second half, a testament to Jon Teske's defensive ability, as Happ missed plenty of looks around the bucket and went just two-for-nine in the second half with just one assist and a turnover. His five turnovers were huge as with limited help on the big man given by Michigan off-ball defenders, it forced him to create constantly for himself with no opportunities to kick the ball out for an open shooter. The defensive strategy worked. Happ got eighteen points and eleven rebounds, but this will certainly not go down as one of his finest performances.
For the Wolverines, the second half saw an offensive explosion out of Charles Matthews. In the first half, Matthews went just one-for-four with two points and a turnover. With Ignas Brazdeikis having a similarly rough game, one of Michigan's two key struggling scorers would have to step things up. Matthews was the man to do so. What followed was a second half where Matthews went eight-for-eleven with sixteen points, lighting up the field like Michigan fans had not seen out of the senior forward since early in this season. His step-back two to ice the game showcased the clutch gene that Michigan fans saw against Minnesota and hoped would get the forward back into form. During a stretch where Wisconsin threw (generally) either King or Brevin Pritzl at him, Matthews showed himself as far too crafty for either defender. Credit must also go to Teske too, whose defense totally threw off Happ in the second half. He played a bit more physical on the big man but also on offense he was as important as he is tall. He finished with seventeen points, just one less than Matthews, and was an impressive four-for-five from the free throw line and also snared twelve rebounds to give him a double-double. Before the final fifteen seconds, of Michigan's thirty second-half points, just four came from players not named Teske or Matthews, and two of those (a Jordan Poole lay-up) came directly from Matthews tipping the ball out after a Michigan miss to keep play alive. The two played a vital role in taking over the second half and handing Michigan the victory on their home court.
Speaking of the supporting cast for Michigan, let's talk a couple of the other four players who played meaningful minutes. First, Ignas Brazdeikis struggled again vs. Wisconsin. The freshman had a nice reverse lay-up where he beat Happ baseline to score on his first shot of the game, but after that he went cold. He finished the game just one-for-nine with those two points and just three rebounds. He also lost Reuvers on his lone three that could have been more disastrous than it was. The Wisconsin defense really has troubled him in his short college career, but those are still the only two games where Brazdeikis has finished with a single field goal, or none. Someone who was able to turn it on for Michigan when needed was Isaiah Livers. In his sixteen minutes, he provided a valuable spark for the Wolverines with nine points on only three shots to go with four rebounds. His ability to play a little bit of center as well gave Michigan added mobility on the bigger post threat of Happ or Reuvers for a minute or two. The two guards, Zavier Simpson and Jordan Poole, also may not have lit it up offensively, but Simpson's continued defensive brilliance and show-running of the offense make him invaluable to Michigan. He played all forty minutes and put in a fantastic defensive shift on the Wisconsin guards. You would, of course, like to see more offensive production from the other three starters, but they did their jobs when necessary and each man was still just as important.
What's Next:
Michigan travel to State College to take on bottom-place Penn State in the return fixture from earlier this season on Tuesday the 12th at 8:30 PM. Elite Michigan teams have lost at last-place Penn State sides (i.e. 2012-13) and this is a PSU team that has pushed Purdue into overtime and, most recently, only lost at Ohio State by four. As of late, they have looked much improved from earlier in the season and will hope to pull off a huge upset at home.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for plenty more Michigan basketball coverage, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Liverpool FC coverage as well!
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