Michigan basketball had an opportunity for revenge against the Big Ten team that can solely boast about beating the Wolverines this season. Wisconsin shocked the maize and blue at Crisler Center in January, giving Michigan its first loss of the season.
The two teams matched back up in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, and though the game started at Michigan’s pace, neither team was able to finish at the rim, with the first under-16 media timeout holding a 3-2 Wisconsin lead. Two minutes later, it was tied 6-6, with the Badgers shooting 18% and the Wolverines shooting 25%. Wisconsin took a 9-6 lead with 12:45 remaining in the first half, with all three of its shots made being 3s. Elliot Cadeau answered to tie, but the Badgers countered with yet another 3. At the under-12 media timeout, it was a 12-9 Wisconsin advantage.
With 10:22 left in the first half, Wisconsin had a 5-point lead, 16-11, and still had yet to score anything but a 3-pointer, with one free throw added for good measure. Less than a minute later, the Wolverines had yet to score, shooting 27% from the floor, and the Badgers got something other than a 3 (a breakaway layup) to push the lead to seven. Will Tschetter answered with a 3, and Roddy Gayle was fouled after a steal and breakaway, with his two free throws getting Michigan back to within two.
Both teams continued to turn the ball over, with Wisconsin having six and Roddy Gayle giving Michigan its seventh. Aleksas Bieliauskas hit his third 3 to push the Badger lead back to five. He had five 3s in the Jan. 10 meeting, so he’s already closing in on that number. Gayle, who had a team-leading four points at this juncture, had his right ankle rolled up on, which created some issues given that the Wolverines are already without backup point guard LJ Cason for the rest of the year (and likely next). After the timeout, however, he appeared good to go.
Another 3 (Wisconsin’s eighth) pushed the Badger lead to eight at the under-four media timeout. After two made free throws by Morez Johnson Jr. and a Tschetter steal leading to a Trey McKenney 3, the Wolverines finally broke the six-minute field goal drought and cut the deficit to just three. Meanwhile, Michigan’s two stars — Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara — had yet to score. But with 1:15 left in the half, Mara finally got on the board with a layup, and with Bieliauskas fouling him, he had an opportunity to tie the game — though he missed the free throw. Nick Boyd finished his attempt at the rim, unlike Lendeborg’s previous attempt, to put UW back up by three. But Lendeborg answered with a 3 to tie the game, and the two teams went into the locker room at halftime, 28-all.
The second half started with Mara getting his third point on a free throw, but he declined the fourth. He picked up his first foul on the other end, with Bieliauskas matching the fellow center. Mara hit on a putback layup to break the stalemate again, and after a stop, Burnett scored two on a putback to push the Michigan lead to four — its biggest of the game thus far. Cadeau had a layup after a stop, and the Wolverines were on a 6-0 run with a six-point lead. Meanwhile, Wisconsin kept hoisting and missing 3s, hoping to recapture the magic of the early first half, but failing to do so. Settling for a jumper, the Badgers pulled within four.
A spin move allowed Lendeborg to dance the baseline with little opposition to push the Michigan lead back up to six. Gayle had a steal that was promptly stolen back, and Wisconsin tried to parlay that into yet another 3 attempt, yet, the sixth try was the sixth miss from deep in the half. Cadeau corralled the rebound and hurried to the basket, but was fouled en route, giving the Badgers four fouls going into the under-16 media timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Cadeau pushed the Michigan lead to eight, and the maize and blue had scored on each of their last four attempts from the floor.
Each team turned the other over in quick succession, but Wisconsin couldn’t capitalize. A McKenney 3 extended the Wolverines’ lead to 11, but Boyd scored two, and Blackwell did the same, with an and-one, and quickly, 11 was just six. A three-point play by Mara got it back up to nine, as the maize and blue went from shooting 27% in the first half to 64% at this stage in the second. Lendeborg got U-M back up 11 on a layup, but Braeden Carrington stroked a 3 to keep the Badgers within striking distance. McKenney continued his brilliant game, answering with his second 3 of the game, pushing his score total to 10.
Coming out of a timeout, Lendeborg had an emphatic dunk to make it a 13-point Michigan lead. Going into the under-12 media timeout with 10:12 remaining in the game, Wisconsin was shooting just 23.5% in the second half compared to the Wolverines at 62.5%.
After a Mara layup, Austin Rapp and Carrington both his 3s, and the 15-point Michigan lead was back down to single digits. A Badger 8-0 run was stymied by Cadeau hitting a jumper, but Rapp hit his second and third 3s, and it was a three-point Michigan lead with just over six minutes remaining. The Wolverines had been much more solid in the second half at working inside, but they started settling for misses outside. Rapp hit his fourth 3, and it was a tie game with 5:31 left. Wisconsin was on a 17-2 run over a four-minute period.
Mara’s dunk got Michigan back on top, but Rapp’s hot hand persisted, with a fifth-straight 3 to put Wisconsin back up for the first time in the second half. Mara traveled, and Rapp hit his sixth, and now the Wolverines were down four. After a Mara midrange jumper, the under-four media timeout saw Wisconsin with the ball up two with 2:58 remaining.
Michigan had an opportunity after Bieliauskas missed a 3, but Cadeau was turned over by Rapp. He traveled, and Mara responded with a layup to tie the game at 62. Boyd missed a 3, and McKenney corralled the ball, but Cadeau missed his first 3 attempt before finally hitting on another try with 45 seconds remaining. With no points in the previous three minutes, Wisconsin called a timeout.
Moments later, Boyd answered, and Michigan’s three-point lead evaporated, but with 29 seconds remaining, the Wolverines could end it with any score, so long as they held the ball for the final shot. And that’s precisely what happened, as Lendeborg drained a game-ending 3 just before the buzzer, and Michigan won, 68-65.
The maize and blue managed to avenge their loss to the Badgers in January, and will now face either Purdue or UCLA in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
Mara led the team with 16 points and eight rebounds, Cadeau had 15 points and three 3s, Lendeborg had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists, and McKenney had 10 points.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan basketball defeats Wisconsin in Big Ten Tournament
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