3 thoughts on Wisconsin basketball's 68-65 Big Ten Tournament loss to Michigan
Wisconsin falls to Michigan 68-65 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals as the Badgers battle to the final possession at the United Center.
Greg Gard and the Wisconsin men’s basketball team saw their run at the Big Ten Tournament come to an end Saturday afternoon in Chicago.
No. 23 Wisconsin fell to No. 3 Michigan, 68–65, in the tournament semifinals at the United Center, closing the week with another tightly contested game that came down to the final possessions.
The Badgers had their chances.
Wisconsin knocked down 16 3-pointers, generated 14 assists on 23 made field goals, and led for nearly 19 minutes in a game that featured six lead changes and seven ties. But Michigan’s size inside and late-game execution ultimately proved to be the difference as the Wolverines outscored the Badgers in the paint and controlled the glass down the stretch.
Now the Badgers turn their attention to Selection Sunday, finishing the week in Chicago with wins over Washington and Illinois and awaiting where they’ll land in the NCAA Tournament bracket.
“Heck of a comeback by our guys there in the second half against a terrific team,” Gard said. “Both of our games with them have been great battles. I’m extremely proud of our guys. We couldn’t get shots to go in for much of the game, but then we found our rhythm.
“This week will be good for us now. We’ll get healthy, get some rest, and get ready for next week. This group is battle-tested, and I think it’s hungry to make a deep run.”
Here are a few thoughts from Wisconsin’s loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
1. Badgers frontcourt finds its 3-point stroke
With Nolan Winter once again unavailable, Wisconsin needed someone in the frontcourt to step forward offensively. On Saturday, that production came from a somewhat unexpected place.
Freshman forward Aleksas Bieliauskas helped provide the early spark. Bieliauskas knocked down three three-pointers in the first half and finished the game with 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists in 34 minutes while shooting 3-for-8 from beyond the arc. He also added a block and held his own defensively, giving Wisconsin valuable minutes while helping stretch Michigan’s defense.
In the second half, it was Austin Rapp who caught fire.
Rapp broke out of a recent shooting slump in a big way, finishing with 18 points, six rebounds, and two blocks while knocking down 6-of-10 attempts from 3-point range. His perimeter shooting helped keep Wisconsin within striking distance as the offense searched for rhythm.
Considering the circumstances, the frontcourt’s production mattered.
“I think both of those guys, if you talk about growth, have grown as much as anybody on the team,” Gard said of Rapp and Bieliauskas. “Austin had a really rough start — and then he got going. That confidence to keep shooting is something we try to embed in these guys.
“You’ve got to keep shooting and stay confident. I don’t want them gun-shy or overthinking it and becoming hesitant, because when we’re spraying threes, it opens up so much more. Then the guards can get downhill, and it all plays into the overall plan.”
Without Winter and with the Badgers’ backcourt struggling to find its usual offensive groove, Wisconsin leaned on its bigs to provide some unexpected scoring punch. Will Garlock also gave the Badgers a few passable minutes off the bench, allowing Wisconsin to navigate stretches with smaller lineups.
Ultimately, it wasn’t quite enough to push the Badgers across the finish line, but given the situation, Wisconsin’s frontcourt deserves credit for helping keep the game within reach. This offense can come at you in so many different ways, and today the supporting cast showed up.
2. Wisconsin showed again they can play with anyone
If there’s one thing this week in Chicago reinforced, it’s that Wisconsin can line up and compete with just about anybody.
The Badgers already proved earlier this season that they could beat Michigan on the road. On Saturday, they nearly did it again on a neutral floor — and they did it under far less than ideal circumstances.
Wisconsin didn’t get a vintage performance from its star backcourt. Nick Boyd finished with 14 points, five rebounds, five assists, and five steals, but it came on a tough shooting day, going 6-of-20 from the field and 2-of-7 from beyond the arc. To his credit, Boyd still hit a big three late that kept the Badgers within striking distance and continued impacting the game in other ways defensively.
John Blackwell also never quite found the rhythm Wisconsin fans have grown used to seeing. After carrying such a heavy offensive load earlier in the tournament, the junior guard finished with 13 points, four assists, and three rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting. At times, Blackwell just didn’t look quite as explosive or engaged as he normally does, which could very well be the byproduct of logging heavy minutes over the past few days.
That’s part of March basketball.
Some nights, your best players just don’t have their usual edge. The fact that Wisconsin still pushed a top-three team in the country to the final possession despite that says quite a bit about the makeup of this group.
There were other contributors who stepped up.
Braeden Carrington picked a good time to break out of his recent shooting struggles, finishing with seven points and four rebounds while providing strong effort minutes. He also came up with an impactful block and consistently hustled back in transition defense, helping stabilize stretches when Wisconsin needed it.
The Badgers also cleaned up some of the early mistakes. Wisconsin turned the ball over eight times in the first half before settling down and finishing with 10 total turnovers, a sign of adjustments being made as the game went on.
Put it all together, and the bigger takeaway becomes pretty clear.
Wisconsin has the scoring punch and perimeter shooting to beat anyone when Boyd and Blackwell are rolling. The encouraging part of Saturday’s showing was that even on a day when they weren’t quite themselves, the Badgers still had the defensive effort and collective toughness to give themselves a chance against one of the best teams in the country.
“I think this group understands how good they are,” Gard said. “But you get to this point in the year, and they’re all good. No matter who we play next week or where we get sent, it’s going to be a really good team.
“The key is understanding what makes us good, staying true to that, and continuing to do it better and keep getting better.”
3. Time to get healthy
Now comes the reset.
After a tough loss to Oregon late in the regular season, Wisconsin responded by ripping off five straight wins, stacking together some of its best basketball of the year along the way. That stretch included several quality victories and culminated with the Badgers taking No. 3 Michigan down to the final possession in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
At this point, it’s fair to say Gard and the staff have this team playing its best basketball heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Exactly where Wisconsin will land in the bracket — and who it will face — will be determined on Selection Sunday. But what the past couple of weeks have shown is that this group is capable of winning in a variety of ways. Between the scoring punch of its backcourt, the perimeter shooting throughout the roster, and the leadership in the locker room, the Badgers have given themselves a real shot to make some noise. That’s all you can ask.
The next step is getting healthy.
Winter, who was questionable entering Saturday’s game against Michigan, remains a key piece Wisconsin will want back in the lineup. And thankfully, he’s going to be healthy enough to play in the big dance. In his absence, Bieliauskas and Rapp both showed meaningful growth over the past few games, providing valuable minutes and scoring punch that should only help deepen the rotation moving forward.
Carrington has also shown flashes of the kind of energy and scoring ability that can swing possessions. At the same time, the starting group has continued to provide the steady foundation Wisconsin relies on.
There’s even the possibility that Jack Janicki could return in some capacity, potentially giving the Badgers another defensive spark off the bench in short bursts when needed.
For now, the focus turns to rest and recovery.
The Badgers will get a chance to heal up, learn their seed, and prepare for the one-and-done environment of the NCAA Tournament. If the way Wisconsin has been playing lately is any indication, Gard’s group enters March playing the kind of basketball you want to be playing this time of year.
And with this roster, the range of outcomes feels pretty wide open.
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