Wisconsin vs Michigan Basketball Recap

Wisconsin 54, Michigan 48

The truth cannot be stated any more plainly: Wisconsin is the team Michigan needs to become. After a defense-dominated Wednesday night in Madison, Wis., it's clear that the Badgers own an abundance of grit and gumption, an embarrassment of mental riches that is so noticeably absent from the woeful Wolverines.

Statistics don't really tell the story of Wisconsin's six-point survival act at the Kohl Center. All that really matters is that when crunch time paid a house call in this contest, the Badgers were the only ones who answered.

Michigan's competitive fire comes and goes, and that's been a rather steady reality in the still-developing John Beilein era, which delivered a second-round appearance in last year's NCAA Tournament but has presided over an immensely disappointing season in 2010. The Wolverines own a considerable amount of skill, but when one compares them to the ballclubs Beilein fielded at West Virginia; it's quite evident that the Mountaineers - with Mike Gansey and Kevin Pittsnogle, among others - found a feisty and flinty edge these Michigan men simply don't possess.

This was - if not a must-win game - a high-need game for the Maize and Blue, who have accumulated an alarmingly high number of losses in two months of basketball. The athletes from Ann Arbor, Mich., don't need to run the table, but in the same vein, they definitely need to pick off a quality road win in the Big Ten before long, or they'll be visiting the National Invitation Tournament in the latter half of March. When UM used Beilein's 1-3-1 zone to establish a 39-30 lead with just over nine minutes left in regulation against the cold-shooting Badgers (4 of 24 from 3-point range), it appeared that another late-season surge was in the making. However, reports of Michigan's revival were distinctly premature.

A Wisconsin team playing without second-leading scorer Jon Leuer (left wrist injury) missed a boatload of perimeter shots on Wednesday night, ironically the kind of scenario that has so often sabotaged Michigan in the Beilein era. However, in the final nine minutes of regulation, coach Bo Ryan's bunch came good against an opponent that has a Roman appetite for victory but lacks the Spartan will (in Ancient Greece or at Michigan State, take your pick) needed to achieve it.

In those final nine minutes - which told you everything you need to know about these two clubs - Michigan scored a grand total of just nine points and hit just three field goal attempts. DeShawn Sims - who led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, thanks mostly to Leuer's absence in the paint for UW - hit only one shot when his team really needed production. A recurring theme in basketball is that scorers need to score in a timely manner, when the rest of an offense is flagging under pressure. Sims needed to be a step-up stud down the stretch, but he could not summon an extra measure of excellence.

Wisconsin 's main main, on the other hand, seized the spotlight. Trevon Hughes, who is clearly the best player on the Badgers, scored eight of his team-high 20 points in the final 4:31 of regulation. More specifically, Hughes was the one who broke a 43-all tie with a jumper at the 3:04 mark. Hughes then padded the lead with a layup that gave Wisconsin a 47-43 cushion with 2:15 to go.

Instructively, UW's successful stretch-run surge also included a rousing performance from a previously unknown role player. Rob Wilson - a backup wingman who entered this game averaging under 10 minutes a contest, and who hadn't scored more than 5 points in any game since the team's season opener on Nov. 15 against cupcake opponent IPFW - exploded for 11 of his 13 points to boost the Badgers in their time of need. While Michigan's bench produced a single solitary point, Wilson enabled the Badgers' backups to tally 19 points and compensate for Mr. Leuer's absence. Wisconsin showed how a team is supposed to compete when one of its meal-ticket stars is shelved with an injury. This is why the Badgers have established themselves as an upper-tier team in a fiercely competitive conference.

As for Michigan, the clock is ticking on the Wolverines' NCAA hopes. John Beilein needs to find some answers soon, or his satisfying 2009 campaign will be followed by an equally profound disappointment in Ann Arbor.

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