Thirty-five seconds is about to feel like long time for the Michigan men's basketball team.

The Wolverines (1-1 Big Ten, 11-3 overall) will have to defend Wisconsin (1-1, 11-3) for about that length of time whenever the Badgers control the ball at the Kohl Center on Wednesday.

On every offensive possession, the Badgers work the ball until the shot clock dwindles down then they hoist their shot. That’s Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan’s unique offensive scheme.

“They get down the shot clock time, just like they do to everybody,” junior guard Zack Novak said on Tuesday. “I mean they wear you down, wear you down. Kind of rip your heart out because they score with two seconds left on the shot clock, and you spend 35 seconds guarding. It just kind of wears you out.”

Led by junior guard Jordan Taylor and senior forward Jon Leuer, Wisconsin runs the swing offense. On each possession, it has the patience to wait for the right opportunity to drive or shoot. And when that opportunity finally presents itself, the offense strike.

But Ryan’s blueprint causes a lot of problems. Defenses are forced to work for long periods of time. Such length normally allows the Badgers to dry out opponents — making more time for mistakes. And as if 35 seconds wasn't enough to deal with, Wisconsin has a knack for doubling their time of possession.

“(Last year), they ran the swing for about 30 seconds, took a shot, got an offensive rebound, ran the swing another 30 seconds, got a basket,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “And it was like, we guarded it for one minute, and it was a long rebound — we boxed out, we did everything. But right now, they’re better than us at taking care of the ball.”

If Michigan allows the Badgers to collect offensive rebounds, the Wolverine defense will find itself in a hole early. But so far, Michigan has been impressive on the defensive glass, averaging 27 defensive boards a game — second most in the Big Ten.

But in the end, Wisconsin's ability to sustain long possessions can also hinder the Michigan’s offense.

The Wolverines are second-to-last in the conference in terms of scoring, tallying about 69 points per game. And if the Badgers control the pace of the game, which they're quite adept at doing, Michigan will have even fewer opportunities to score than usual.

“We’ve got to play our game,” Novak said. “You don’t want to play Wisconsin’s game just because we’re at Wisconsin. We want to play Michigan basketball. At the same time there are going to be some shots that we might use a little bit more discretion with …

“You don’t want to come and guard for 35 seconds and then jack one and come right back and guard. We need to be patient and work a little bit. We’ve got to take what they give you. If you’ve got an open shot, you’ve got to take it and knock it down.”

Every offensive decision that Michigan makes will be critical. The Wolverines will be in a lot of trouble if they allow Wisconsin to get on a roll. The Badgers are 153-16 all-time at the Kohl Center, with only six losses in the past decade. But being on the road may not pose too much of a threat for this young Michigan squad.

“I think our lack of experience might help us in a place like this,” Novak said. “I mean you go into a place like Madison where they lost like six games since Bo Ryan has been there, our guys don’t know about that really. It’s not something they’ll be thinking about, I don’t think so. That might help us.”