With season on the line, the Badgers went into Ann Arbor and took down No. 2 Michigan. While the season was only figuratively over with a loss, instead the Badgers are now 11-5 and back on track for an NCAA Tournament bid. So how did they pull off the massive upset? Here are three quick takeaways.
1. First five minutes of the second half
Wisconsin entered halftime down 38-37 to the Wolverines, but by the 15:00 minute mark of the second half, had scored 25 points in less than five minutes to reach a 62-56 lead. The flurry of points was thanks to a barrage of three-pointers, and a sweet seven-straight points by Nick Boyd in less than a minute of game time. Whatever Greg Gard's halftime message was, it should be on repeat in every locker room across the country.
2. A career game from Aleksas Bieliauskas
Aleksas Bieliauskas dropped 17 points, a career-high, on 50% shooting, and couldn't have picked a better time for his breakout game. He hit five threes for the Badgers, and Gard finally found someone to take some of the scoring burden off of Boyd and Blackwell. The big Lithuanian was just 29% from deep before the Michigan game, but found his stroke, going 4-for-4 to start the second half, kickstarting the Badgers' comeback.
3. A culture that proved its worth
Greg Gard and Wisconsin will never be the flashiest program out there, but Wisconsin plays team basketball better than most anyone in the country, and that's exactly what this win needed. Four players scored in double figures, and and the team hit 15-threes, tied for most on the season. After the game Gard praised the character of his players.
"Phenomenal team win against a terrific team," he said. "Shows the character of our guys and the belief they have in the program, the system and most importantly, in each other... We've gotten tougher. [I'm] Proud of our guys. What a gritty, gutty effort."