INDIANAPOLIS – Every time the Michigan men’s basketball team pushed No. 8 Wisconsin, the Badgers knocked the Wolverines down.
Wisconsin beat Michigan 51-34 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals today.
The only team to have two Big Ten All-Defensive Team players (wing Joe Krabbenhoft and guard Michael Flowers), the Badgers held Michigan to its lowest point total of the season. The previous was 49 in a win against Illinois.
Michigan scored five straight points to open the second half to cut the deficit to three, but Wisconsin responded with a 9-0 run. The Wolverines trailed by at least nine the rest of the way.
The Badgers jumped out to an 8-0 lead by making four layups, causing Michigan coach John Beilein to take a timeout. On the Wolverines’ ensuing possession, Flowers stole the ball from freshman point guard Kelvin Grady and took off for an easy layup. During the next timeout, Beilein looked at Grady and questioned how a player can give up the ball right out of a timeout.
Michigan battled back to trailing just 15-13, but Wisconsin responded with another 10-0 run.
Wisconsin’s 26 first-half points came from eight layups, a pair of Jason Bohannon 3-pointers from the left elbow and four free throws.
Redshirt freshman forward Anthony Wright was the only Wolverine to make a field goal in the second half. He made just four in the frame and the game. Michigan shot 10-of-50 from the field.
The Badgers (16-2 Big Ten, 27-4 overall) beat Michigan twice in the regular-season, but the Wolverines lost by just three in Madison.
“We want to play Wisconsin,” sophomore center Ekpe Udoh said after Michigan’s opening-round win over Iowa yesterday. “Teams might not want them, but we really want to go at Wisconsin. . I mean, they’re the best. We gave them our best shot out of all the other teams.”
Michigan (5-13 Big Ten, 10-22 overall) set a program record for losses in a season.