It took 16 games, but the Wisconsin Badgers finally had that thunderous response, upsetting the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines on the road 91-88 on Saturday afternoon to secure their first Quad 1 win of the season.
Heading into the game, Wisconsin had been 10-5, with all five losses being Quad 1 opportunities. When facing top competition, the Badgers had struggled to be competitive, getting blown out in games against BYU, Nebraska, and Purdue.
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But on Saturday, the Badgers showed their potential offensively, raining from three as they put together a 54-point second half to upset the undefeated Wolverines in arguably the upset of the year in College Basketball.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 91-88 win over Michigan on Saturday.
Breaking down Michigan’s defense
Early on, the Badgers were a bit stagnant offensively, scoring just eight points in the first 6:16. There were some good looks, but it felt like Wisconsin wasn’t attacking enough coming out of ball screens, with the ball movement not up to par.
That started to change, though, as Wisconsin got itself back from an early 21-10 hole, with Nolan Winter hitting a three after some good ball movement on the perimeter off an attack. Michigan still kept a nice 31-17 lead through the first 13 minutes. Then, the offense started to show life.
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Wisconsin scored 20 points over the next six minutes, with John Blackwell starting to turn up the heat, ending with 16 points and three triples in the first half. Nick Boyd looked to be aggressive, getting nine points with two trips to the free-throw line. And the Badgers climbed to within one at halftime despite shooting below 40 percent from the field, thanks to some stellar defense to end the half.
The second half, though, is where the offense really found its groove. Wisconsin shot an incredible 63 percent from the field, while hitting 10 threes and shooting 58.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Badgers found ways to attack and then generated good looks on the perimeter, with all six of their top players hitting threes.
Wisconsin was in much better control with the basketball than they’d been in the past, recording only 10 turnovers, and they were efficient enough when the paint looks came (7/10 on twos in the second half).
The Badgers were going to face trouble with Michigan’s three-headed monster in the frontcourt, so they were going to need to hit threes. And boy did they do that. It was a close game throughout, with the Badgers only leading by six at their best, but one that Wisconsin firmly stayed in till the end to get the upset.
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Bigs start to shoot
Wisconsin’s bigs have seen their ups and downs shooting from distance this year. While Nolan Winter has been extremely efficient from inside the arc, he’s been waiting for the threes to come down, hitting at only a 30.2 percent rate this year after shooting over 35 percent last season.
Aleksas Bieliauskas has been under 30 percent from deep this season on nearly two attempts a game, while Austin Rapp, who missed Saturday’s game, has also been shooting poorly at 28.8 percent from deep.
Well, on Saturday, the pick-and-pop was instrumental for Wisconsin. Bieliauskas hit five threes, including four in the second half, as he scored 17 points on the day. Winter was three of four from deep, hitting a pair in the second half.
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And both played heavy minutes, with Bieliauskas playing a career-high 31 minutes, while Winter saw 36 minutes. On a day with limited depth in the frontcourt, both guys played their roles well.
Stars come alive
We’ve seen both John Blackwell and Nick Boyd go off this season, but we’ve been waiting for the consistency from the duo as they continue to learn to play together.
Well, on Saturday, they combined to score 48 points on an efficient 17 of 32 from the field, initiating the offense for the Badgers. And they took care of the ball, as Michigan had only one steal of the day and didn’t force too many turnovers, which have been a catalyst for lulls offensively this year.
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Blackwell kept Wisconsin alive in the first half with his 16 points at a time when they badly needed offensive direction. And Boyd continued to push the pace, scoring 13 points on an efficient 5-of-7 from the field in the second half alone, while dishing out four assists.
It was a good guard battle on both sides Saturday and Wisconsin’s duo was instrumental in the win.
