The No. 9 ranked University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team’s (10-3, 4-2) big trip to Ann Arbor this past Tuesday was a total disappointment. The Badgers fell hard to No. 7 Michigan (11-0, 6-0) by a score of 77–54.
Michigan’s suffocating defense fueled a blowout win for the Wolverines. Three of Wisconsin’s first eight shots were blocked and the Wolverines ended the night with nine total blocks.
It was not just a block party at the Crisler Center, as the Wolverines started running the Badgers out of the gym for a good part of the game. Michigan went on a 41–6 run over a span that lasted close to 20 minutes. The massive run started in the first half as the Wolverines closed the half out with 14 unanswered points.
Men’s Basketball: Badgers hold on in double overtime against Indiana
The run lasted through a good chunk of the second half as well, giving Michigan a 40-point lead over the Badgers, 69–29.
Wisconsin did their best to fight back but the 40-point deficit was too much to overcome. The surge was led by senior D’Mitrik Trice, who finished with 20 points while connecting on four of his seven attempts from 3-point range.
Trice has been providing huge production for the Badgers as of late. In recent games when the team defense has not looked as advertised, it has been Trice’s offense that has kept the Badgers in games.
When Indiana scored 73 points on the Badgers, Trice had 21 points and seven assists to help secure a double-overtime win. Against Maryland — where the Badgers allowed 70 points in their loss — Trice still poured in 25 points to keep it close. In Wisconsin’s Christmas Day win over Michigan State, Trice led the team with 29 points.
Now, against Michigan Tuesday, Trice was the only sign of life on offense with 20 points. He leads the team in both scoring and distributing with 15.2 points per game and 3.5 assists per game. Trice is also boasting an impressive 2.6 assist to turnover ratio through 13 games this season.
Along with the production from Trice, one of the most optimistic takeaways from Tuesday’s game against Michigan was the long-range shooting of Tyler Wahl. Wahl started the season shooting the ball just 2-for-9 on 3-pointers. After going three games without even attempting a three, Wahl has now come to life from deep.
Wahl is now 3-for-3 from 3-point range over the last two games. Two of those shots came in overtime against Indiana, putting a dagger in the Hoosiers. Now, Wahl is shooting the ball 41.7% on his 12 attempts from beyond the arc.
Clearly, Wahl is not the team’s go-to 3-point shooter, however, consistent shooting from deep out of Wahl could prove significant for the Badgers down the stretch of a difficult Big Ten slate.
The Badgers have another Big Ten battle set for Friday against Rutgers (7-4, 3-4). Wisconsin will travel to New Jersey in hopes of getting back in the win column. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. on Fox Sports One.
