Michigan ends five-game losing streak with upset over No. 11 Wisconsin
The Michigan Wolverines (8-15, 3-9 Big Ten) snapped a five-game losing streak on Wednesday night with a 72-68 win over No. 11 Wisconsin (16-7, 8-4 B1G) at Crisler Center.
Sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel led the Wolverines with 16 points on the evening. Classmate and starting center Tarris Reed Jr. had 12 points, 6 rebounds and three blocks in the victory.
Known for blowing second-half leads all year, the Wolverines stayed poised and locked in en route to a much-needed win. The team is next off to Nebraska for a game with the Cornhuskers at 6:30 p.m. ET.
First half
Wisconsin wing AJ Storr got the scoring started with a three-pointer at the 19:28 mark before a quick 6-0 run from the Wolverines on jumpers from Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel and a fast break dunk from Tarris Reed (6-3, 18:22). UW’s Chucky Hepburn ended the run with a three to tie the game at 6-6 (17:22). The two teams would trade buckets over the next few minutes with the game tied 10-10 at the 15:23 mark and under-16 media timeout.
With the game tied 13-all, Burnett and Olivier Nkamhoua hit threes and Wisconsin scored on a layup in a 1:36 stretch to push the U-M lead up to 19-15 at the under-12 media timeout. The Badgers followed it up with a 4-0 run on a pair of Storr free throws and a Steven Crowl layup to tie the game back at 19-all. A 7-1 from McDaniel helped U-M out to a 26-20 lead at the under-8 media timeout with 7:49 remaining in the half. Coming out of the break, Jaelin Llewellyn followed it up with a three-pointer of his own, extended the lead to a half-high nine points at 29-20 (7:28).
A 6-1 run from the Badgers narrowed Michigan’s lead to 32-28 with 4:10 left in the half before Llewellyn got two back on a layup. Wisconsin rattled off five straight points to climb to within 34-33 with 1:58 on the clock. Michigan ended on a 3-0 run from Will Tschetter to take a 37-33 lead into the half.
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Second half
Wisconsin’s Max Klesmit got the scoring going in the second half with a layup, answered by a three-pointer from Burnett to put the score at 40-35 in favor of Michigan. Badger forward Tyler Wahl hit a pair of layups that narrowed the Wolverine lead down to 40-39 at 17:57, forcing a Michigan timeout. Nkamhoua hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 42-39 before a pair of Wisconsin layups helped the Badgers out to a 43-42 lead with 15:51 to play.
Wisconsin pushed its lead up to 48-44 with 13:47 remaining before an 8-0 run from the Wolverines helped them jump back out ahead 52-48 with 11:23 on the clock. Wahl stopped the run with a layup at 9:48, trimming the deficit to 52-50 over U-M. Reed hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to four before a paint shot from Will Tschetter, extending the lead to 56-50 at 8:48. Storr hit a pair of free throws before a 4-0 run from Reed put the Wolverines up 60-52 with 7:22 to go.
Storr helped get two points back for Wisconsin before Tschetter hit a three to push Michigan’s lead to nine points at 63-54 with 5:45 remaining. UW’s Klesmit answered with a three of his own before a Terrance Williams jumper extended the lead to 65-57. Hepburn hit a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 65-60 Michigan before Williams hit a pair of free throws coming out of the TV timeout. Michigan led 67-60 with 3:26 remaining.
A 4-0 run from Storr trimmed Michigan’s advantage to 67-64 with 2:08 to go. Michigan called timeout with the ball at 1:22. McDaniel hit a layup at the 1:12 mark before a pair of Wiscosnin free throws cut the lead to 69-66 in favor of the Wolverines. The Badgers called timeout with possession of the ball with 43.6 seconds to go. Michigan was able to ice the game away at the free throw line, grabbing a 72-68 victory.
Michigan vs. Wisconsin final box score
