B1G Recap - (22) Wisconsin 75, (15) Michigan 62

                                              Joe Stapleton (UM Hoops)

With their largest gap between games in over 4 weeks (5 days off), I expected Michigan to come out fiery on Sunday. In the race for a Big Ten title, every game is a must-win this late in the season, and protecting home court is a priority. Michigan came out flat on Sunday, in perhaps one of the worst first-half performances that I can remember from a Wolverines team since John Beilein has been in Ann Arbor.

Early in the game, Michigan's offense was stagnant and settled for heavily contested two-point attempts that would not fall. Wisconsin, on the other hand, used dribble penetration, efficient transition offense, and solid post play to bury Michigan early. From my seat directly behind the Michigan bench, you could see that Michigan routinely left shooters wide-open in transition (Josh Gasser's two early triples come to mind) and the Wolverines simply had no answer for this onslaught of Badger offense. The Badgers did what they wanted, when they wanted. Wisconsin opened up a lead as large as 18 in the first half, and settled for a 34-19 edge at the break.

Despite its lethargic first half effort, Michigan made its patented run midway through the second half, courtesy of Caris LeVert and his career-high 25 points. With Nik Stauskas struggling to get open looks, LeVert put the offense squarely on his shoulders. While he seems to dribble the air out of the ball whenever he puts it on the floor, his play this year has warranted discussion as the Big Ten's most improved player. He shot the ball well from deep (5-6 from three) and drove to the basket with force, finishing at the rim in a variety of ways. He almost single-handedly cut a 16-point second half deficit to three with just over six minutes to play. However, Michigan's big man combo of Jon Horford and Jordan Morgan (and inexplicably Glenn Robinson III in the first half) had no answer for the size of Wisconsin 7-footer Frank Kaminsky. He bullied his way into the post easily throughout the afternoon, using his huge frame to his advantage against smaller Michigan defenders. He finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, including a late three to ice the game for the Badgers. Sam Dekker and Josh Gasser combined for 28 points for the Badgers as well, including 5-6 from deep. 

Besides LeVert, Michigan struggled offensively. Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton III combined to go 1-13 from the field, and as previously mentioned, Nik Stauskas finished with just 11 points on 4-11 shooting. Glenn Robinson pitched in 10 points in a 5-9 shooting effort. 

Michigan has the week off before hosting the Big Ten's most important game of the regular season next Sunday afternoon, as Michigan State makes its way to Ann Arbor. Both teams currently sit atop the conference at 10-3, leaving the winner with a leg up with just a few weeks of conference play left. Tip off is scheduled for 12 PM.