CHICAGO — When the Michigan men’s basketball team took on Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday, it was a team with nothing to lose versus one with everything to lose.
And in the Wolverines 73-55 blowout win, “nothing to lose” prevailed. Buoyed by a burst of energy at the start, Michigan was all over a sluggish Illini team from the opening tip.
Friday, though, the Wolverines will face a much stiffer test when they take on No. 1 seed Wisconsin. The Badgers have only NCAA Tournament seeding position on the line, and with their smart, veteran lineup, they’re a safe bet to be steady on the big stage at the United Center.
But with a resounding win over the Illini in hand, the Wolverines aren’t ready to concede to the tournament favorites.
“I think we match up pretty good,” said freshman forward Kameron Chatman. “I think we’re gonna come out with the same energy we did today and hopefully get the victory. … We’re not ready to go home yet.”
The last time Michigan met the Badgers — a 69-64 Wisconsin win on Jan. 24 — just about everything was different for the Wolverines. They were still searching for an identity after junior guard Caris LeVert’s season-ending foot injury, and sophomore guard Derrick Walton Jr. was still in the lineup.
Friday, with Walton doubtful, the Wolverines will be relying on sophomore guard Zak Irvin, junior guard Spike Albrecht and freshman guard Aubrey Dawkins for their offense. To be fair, they were leaning on those three in the last meeting too. But Friday, the three are much safer bets to generate offense.
Against the Illini, Irvin finished with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists. He made plays he wouldn’t have dreamed of making in late January, with timely passes through traffic and rebounds over much taller players.
He scored 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting in the earlier game against Wisconsin. Now, he’s evolved to a level where the Badgers won’t be able to rely on him simply throwing up a prayer with the shot clock dwindling.
At the other wing spot, Dawkins has developed into a reliable shooter, a far cry from his three points on 1-for-3 shooting in January.
But while this isn’t the same Michigan team, this is the same Wisconsin team. And that’s what the Wolverines will be worried about.
“They’re an extremely good team, they’re extremely fundamental and they can all shoot,” Albrecht said. “We’re just going to need to do some things to keep them to mix up defenses, keep them out of a good rhythm.
“That’s the one thing about Wisconsin: They don’t beat themselves. You’re going to have to beat them.”
The Badgers trot out a starting five that includes a National Player of the Year candidate in seven-footer Frank Kaminsky, a bona fide scorer in Sam Dekker, an athletic swingman in Nigel Hayes and a gifted backcourt of Josh Gasser and Bronson Koenig.
With those five, Wisconsin can score from anywhere on the court. And it does. Kaminsky is one of the deadliest inside-outside threats in the nation, and he had a 22-point field day the last time he took on Michigan.
The tall task of guarding him could go to senior forward Max Bielfeldt, who has somehow been able to outperform bigger centers multiple times this season. But Kaminsky is a different animal.
“We’ve done a little cross-matching in the past where we put the ‘4’ on him and the ‘5’ on Nigel Hayes,” Bielfeldt said. “(We’ll) try to force him to do things he doesn’t want to do and just go from there.”
It starts with keeping Kaminsky in check, but the Wolverines will need a herculean effort to upset the Badgers. They’ll need to do everything right and force Wisconsin to make mistakes.
But they’ve still got nothing to lose. And with a win over Wisconsin, they could have everything to gain.