The UW men’s basketball team overtook first place in the Big Ten and won its 15th consecutive home conference game with a 73-42 dismantling of Michigan Wednesday night before a sell-out crowd at the Kohl Center. Defense and 3-point shooting propelled the blowout, and four Badgers scored in double-figures, led by Mike Wilkinson’s 16.
“I don’t know what else we could do. We seemed to do everything well,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “Our guys played off one another, played with one another, played to one another. It was a 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle that came together in 40 minutes. The pieces fit.”
Michigan senior LaVell Blanchard and freshman Daniel Horton combined for 42 points in a 66-65 win over Wisconsin Jan. 8. The Badgers weren’t going to let that happen this time. Matched up against Alando Tucker for most of the night, Blanchard went 1-8 from the field with just 6 points. His first field goal didn’t come until 4:02 remained in the game.
Devin Harris, who also posted six assists, did an equally impressive job on the sensational Horton, who was tied for fifth in the conference with 16.5 points per game. Horton shot a paltry 1-11 and scored only two points, just the second time he’s been held to single digits in conference play this season.
“(Horton’s) a freshman, and so much has been asked of him and there’s so much he’s been able to do for us all year,” Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker said. “This wasn’t one of the games that we’re going to like to remember from his freshman year. Devin Harris was outstanding. I thought he really bothered [Horton with his length and long arms. He threw him off his game, so give credit to where it’s due.”
In the first nine minutes of the game, Wisconsin was unable to get anything going on offense as well. But with the score at 7-7, the Badgers took off on a 16-6 run over a 7:45 span, giving them a 23-13 lead. Michigan never got within five points the rest of the game.
Three straight UW 3-pointers with the Wolverines in a zone defense sparked the run. With 11:18 to play in the half, Wilkinson grabbed his own rebound after a missed lay-up. He found Freddie Owens, who had 10 points, in the right corner for a 3-pointer. Penney turned a Michigan miss into another 3 points, and Harris followed with his own triple after a Horton turnover. The lead was 16-7, and Amaker was forced to take a 30-second timeout with the crowd roaring its approval. Things got even worse for Michigan after the timeout as Tucker converted a gravity-defying reverse lay-up worthy of Jordan himself.
“We went to the zone a little bit because of the foul trouble we felt,” Amaker said. “With Horton having two fouls, we were afraid of him picking up his third in the first half, so we put the zone in.”
But, as Amaker noted, it didn’t really matter whether Michigan played man or zone. UW shot 52.8 percent for the game, including 10-20 from 3-point range. Conversely, Michigan shot just 31.4 percent.
“If you keep the ball too long in one spot, offensively you’re limiting your options,” Ryan said. “You have to move the ball and move bodies, and we did a good job of that.”
Bernard Robinson, Jr. and Lester Abram, with 10 and 7 first-half points respectively, kept the halftime score respectable for Michigan, at 31-20. But the Badgers went on another prolonged run midway through the second half, stretching their lead from 11 to 25 over a span of 7:39. Wisconsin merely extended the lead the rest of the way, and their largest lead, at 31 points, came at the final buzzer.
“Sometimes that happens,” Ryan said, referring to a lead that just kept growing. “Michigan threw everything they had at us defensively, and our guys just really did a great job of not turning it over and making the tough passes when [Michigan pressured.”
The Badgers could also take solace after this game in two other departments. They stayed with the Wolverines on the glass, out-rebounding them 31-30 after being physically hammered by the much bigger Iowa Hawkeyes last Saturday. They also received solid contributions from the bench, with Boo Wade playing his usual 20 minutes of turnover-free ball and Andreas Helmigk chipping in with four points and two rebounds down low.
Above all, however, the win puts the Badgers at 10-4 in the Big Ten (20-6 overall), half a game ahead of Michigan (16-10, 9-4) for first place. With two games remaining, at Minnesota Sunday and home against Illinois next Wednesday, the Badgers control their own destiny.
“It’s great to have destiny in your own hands,” Penney, who had 15 points, said. “It doesn’t matter what other people do. Just take care of business, and things will work out.”
