Michigan 77, Wisconsin 54: With swarming defense and scoring inside and out, the Wolverines built a 40-point lead
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Wisconsin coach Greg Gard raved about Michigan’s defense before his team traveled to Ann Arbor.
UW’s players learned firsthand Tuesday night at the Crisler Center how well the Wolverines can defend.
The fifth-ranked Wolverines held No. 9 UW scoreless for the final 6 minutes 18 seconds of the first half in building a 17-point lead, led by as many as 40 points after halftime and remained unbeaten with a 77-54 victory.
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“They pressure the ball really well,” said senior guard D’Mitrik Trice, who led UW in scoring with 20 points. “They get in passing lanes. They get steals. They make you feel a little bit uncomfortable.
“I think they did a great job of doing that the whole game and that made some of us uncomfortable at times.”
Michigan entered the game No. 1 in the Big Ten field-goal percentage defense (37.5%) and fifth in scoring defense (67.0 ppg) and, after the first 13-plus minutes of the opening half, made life miserable for UW’s shooters.
“Our guys do a phenomenal job of competing,” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said. “The energy they’ve brought night in and night out, it’s not easy.
“They’ve embraced the competition.”
UW (10-3, 4-2 Big Ten) dropped into fourth place in the league, one-half game behind third-place Illinois (9-4, 5-2).
Michigan (11-0, 6-0) retained sole possession of first place, one full game ahead of Iowa (11-2, 5-1).
The Wolverines became the first team in college basketball history to beat three ranked opponents in a row by at least 19 points.
UW hit 11 of 23 three-point attempts (47.8%) and 29 of 54 shots overall (53.7%) in an 81-74 victory over the Wolverines last season.
The Badgers entered Tuesday second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally at 41.4% from three-point range and eighth in the league in scoring at 76.5 points per game.
Michigan held UW to 21.4% three-point shooting (3 of 14) and 30.3% shooting overall (10 of 33) in building a 40-23 halftime lead.
UW finished 32.1% from three-point range (9 of 28) and 30.8% overall (20 of 65).
Trice, who scored 28 points in UW’s 81-74 victory over the Wolverines last season, hit 4 of 7 three-pointers and 7 of 13 shots overall Tuesday.
Micah Potter was the only other UW player in double figures. He hit 2 of 5 three-pointers and 5 of 11 shots overall and finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
Gard used eight other players and they combined to hit 8 of 41 shots (19.5%).
Starters Nate Reuvers (2-for-9 shooting, four points), Aleem Ford (2 of 8, six points) and Brad Davison (1 of 8, two points) combined to hit 5 of 25 shots and score 12 points.
“We got to the point where we were taking a lot of jump shots,” Gard said. “Too many jump shots. And that led to easy offense for them.”
Four players scored between 12 and 16 points for Michigan, led by guard Mike Smith. The graduate transfer from Columbia contributed 16 points and six assists,
The Wolverines shot 56.3% from three-point range (9 of 16) and 51.6% overall (32 of 62) and crushed UW in the paint, 38-18.
UW appeared to be in decent shape when Reuvers scored with 6:19 left to cut Michigan’s lead to 26-23. The Badgers weren’t sharp on either end of the court but were within three points.
Michigan’s lead by halftime was 40-23. The Wolverines dominated the final six-plus minutes on both ends of the court.
Smith scored five points and Franz Wagner (15 points, 10 rebounds) added four to key a 14-0 run that allowed the Wolverines to build the lead to 17 points.
“I thought that was the turning point in the game,” Gard said. “I thought their aggressiveness, their physicality were two things…I did not think we responded to that well.
“We got way out of character, the end of that first half and then into the second half. They have done that to a lot of teams. They get a little spark and it turns into an avalanche.”
UW missed its final eight shots of the half and suffered turnovers on back-to-back possessions from that to run-outs and easy baskets. That sequence allowed Michigan to push the lead eight points to 12.
Ford’s three-point play 18 seconds into the second half appeared to give UW life but the Wolverines reeled off 14 consecutive points to push the lead to 54-26.
Gard called a timeout with 15:30 left but Michigan was rolling, swarming on defense and scoring inside and outside and eventually built the lead to 40 points at 69-29.
Game over.
“Our lack of aggressiveness was the difference,” Gard said. “We only had six team fouls. We only had two at half. They were both on Potter.
“That told me we were not aggressiveness enough. We were not physical enough. They were. They were able to put us on our heels…
“That flurry towards the end of the first half and then into the second half, I did not like how we responded.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Michigan 77, Wisconsin 54: With swarming defense and scoring inside and out, the Wolverines built a 40-point lead