Wisconsin Basketball played its game en route to a home upset of undefeated Michigan 64-54.
The Kohl Center was rocking this Saturday as Wisconsin Basketball (12-6, 4-3) hosted the undefeated and second-ranked Michigan Wolverines (17-1, 6-1).
The first half was back and forth early on with no team leading by more than four points at any time. A couple of 6-0 runs from Michigan in the first half allowed them to take a 27-25 lead into halftime.
Ethan Happ did Ethan Happ things in the second half on his way to a big game that saw him post a stat line of 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Michigan came into the game with the third-ranked defense in the country. Wisconsin had trouble knocking down shots early going 3-8 from three-point range and just 36.7 percent overall. However, the real key for Wisconsin was how well its own defense played. Wisconsin played out of their minds on that end of the floor and held Michigan to just 54 points on 40.7 percent shooting overall, just 5-18 from three point range, and forcing 16 turnovers.
THIS is how you close out a win 😤 pic.twitter.com/WiaPxDoH9h
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 19, 2019
Despite the couple of scoring droughts this team has made a habit of going on in the early part of the season, they didn’t couple it today with the outrageous turnovers. The Badgers won the turnover battle which ultimately allowed them to pull off this potentially season-saving win.
While Happ led the way offensively for Wisconsin, Nate Reuvers pitched in nine points of his own along with Aleem Ford contributing nine points off the bench. Michigan kept D’Mitrik Trice in check and held him to just six points on 2-10 shooting from the field.
Another key for Wisconsin was not letting the game get away from them from the free throw line. The Badgers went 7-9 from the line in the second half after not attempting a free throw in the first twenty minutes.
After taking down Michigan, the Badgers will have a couple of days rest before taking on Illinois in Champaign on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT on BTN. Illinois faces 23rd-ranked Iowa tomorrow and they are coming off a big Win over Minnesota. Both teams could have a lot of momentum ahead of their showdown Wednesday night.