UW faces daunting finishing stretch
MADISON – Greg Gard's basketball team rode a remarkable late-season surge last spring with eight consecutive victories to secure a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
If Wisconsin can play well enough in the final six regular-season games to merely finish in the top four of the league standings this season, that achievement might turn out to be more impressive.
UW, which hasn't won back-to-back games since Jan. 15 and Jan. 20, is 9-5 in the Big Ten and 15-6 overall as it prepares for a daunting closing stretch that includes five games against teams in the top 24 of the NCAA NET rankings.
That daunting stretch begins at noon Sunday at the Kohl Center against firstplace Michigan (13-1, 8-1), a team that drilled UW by 23 points on Jan. 12.
“It's a fun stretch,” guard Brad Davison said. “End of a schedule that we've had circled for a long time, dating back to when the schedule came out. We're going to have to play well.
“You've got to play well against every team in this league to give yourself a chance to win. You can play really well and still lose because of the caliber of teams in our league.
“We know we have to play well but we also know we're fully capable and ready to go.”
After facing the Wolverines, UW hosts No. 8 Iowa (14-6, 8-5) on Thursday. Next up is a Feb. 21 game at Northwestern (6-11, 3-10). The Badgers then host No. 4 Illinois (15-5, 11-3) on Feb. 27, play March 2 at No. 24 Purdue (13-8, 8-6) and close the regular season at No. 8
Iowa.
“We're excited,” guard D'Mitrick Trice said. “We're happy to have this stretch of tough games. It will show and prove to other teams how good of a team we are.”
To date in Big Ten play UW has proved to be a team incapable of defeating the top teams in the league. In addition to suffering a 77-54 loss at Michigan, UW suffered a 75-60 loss at Illinois.
Michigan used tenacious defense and devastating transition offense to turn a competitive game into a varsity vs. freshman scrimmage when the teams met in Ann Abor.
UW pulled within 26-23 when Nate Reuvers scored in the lane with 6 minutes 19 seconds left in the first half. The Wolverines responded with a 14-0 run over the final 5:28 for a 40-23 lead. UW missed all seven shots, including 4 three-pointers, and turned the ball over three times during that stretch. Michigan hit 6 of 9 shots, with three of the baskets on dunks or lay-ups.
The Badgers' counterattack in the second half lasted for one possession.
Aleem Ford converted a three-point play 18 seconds into the half to pull UW with 40-26 but the Wolverines responded with a 22-0 run to push the lead to 36 points. UW missed shots or turned the ball over and Michigan scored and eventually pushed the lead to 40 points. The Wolverines finished at 56.3% from three-point range (9 of 16) and 51.6% overall (32 of 62) and scored 38 of their 77 points in the paint.
“We had key turnovers at the end of the first half,” said Trice, who led UW with 20 points but had back-to-back turnovers in the key stretch at the end of the first half. “We weren't finishing very well in the paint. We got away from what makes Wisconsin really good. We weren't guarding the way we know how to guard.
“I think that will be the biggest thing coming into the game … shutting down their transition points and open three attempts and just playing more aggressive on both ends of the floor.”
One factor that could favor UW is that Michigan has been on a COVID-19 pause and last played on Jan. 22. The other Big Ten teams that have endured similar lengthy pauses – Penn State, Michigan State and Nebraska – all lost their first games back.
“We hope they're a little rusty and we can jump on them early,” Davison joked.
Michigan coach Juwan Howard insists his players will be ready.
“If we had to play that game against Wisconsin outside and on a playground somewhere, hey, I'm down for it,” he told reporters. “I grew up on a playground, playing outside in the snow. And if I didn't have two gloves, Zach, my friend would give me one of his gloves. He would have the left, I would have the right. And we'd hoop.
“So, if we could do that – Wisconsin could come outside and we could play them out there on a playground. I'm down for whatever. Let's do it.”