Wisconsin misses its last 15 shots but relies on tenacious defense and crucial free throws to hold off Michigan
MADISON – This is how you respond when you feel your shoulder blades pressed firmly against a concrete wall.
You run crisp offense, you attack the offensive glass and battle for every loose ball and you flex your mettle down the stretch by hitting critical free throws to compensate for failing to make a field goal in the final 10 minutes 44 seconds of the game.
With Freshman Connor Essegian hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final 3:25, including two with 6.6 seconds left, and finishing with a college-high 23 points, the Badgers found a way to hold off Michigan, 64-59, in front of a raucous crowd of 15,436 Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
The victory came just three days after the Badgers blew a 17-point second-half lead at Nebraska before falling in overtime.
“I was satisfied with the response Sunday in film (review),” UW coach Greg Gard said. “They owned it. It wasn’t pretty. I was direct. And then you always want to see how they respond.”
Gard liked what he saw during practice Sunday and Monday.
“They know we just had to play better basketball,” Gard said. “And better basketball covers a lot of things. But we just had to be more consistently true to who we are and what makes us good.”
The real test came Tuesday night against a Michigan team that, like UW, was desperate for victories to improve its NCAA Tournament resume.
“I thought they responded,” Gard said, “specifically on the defensive end, like we needed to respond.”
BOX SCORE:Wisconsin 64, MIchigan 59
The result was that the Badgers (15-10, 7-8 Big Ten) opened a critical three-game home stand by again moving to within one game of the .500 mark in league play.
They host Rutgers (16-10, 8-7) at 11 a.m Saturday. The Scarlet Knights suffered a surprising 82-72 home loss Tuesday to Nebraska.
“By the way,” Gard said, “it looks like Nebraska wasn't too bad. They win tonight at Rutgers. Don’t ask me if I know how to figure out this league. It’s crazy.”
Michigan, which is in danger of missing out on the NCAA field, suffered its second consecutive loss and fell to 8-7 in the Big Ten and 14-12 overall.
UW scored eight points off 15 offensive rebounds, held a 13-2 edge in points off turnovers and hit 14 of 18 free throws compared to just 6 of 10 for the Wolverines. The Badgers came in shooting just 59.3% from the line in league play.
“It’s tough to win on the road when you give a team extra possessions,” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said. “And then 12 turnovers. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball.
“But I love the way our team came on the road and competed. Give Wisconsin a lot of credit. They have a really good team, a well-coached team.
“I expected it was going to be one of these games where you had to come in bring your hard hat and try to win the muscle areas.
“Unfortunately, we failed in that area.”
Essegian hit just 2 of 7 three-pointers but attacked the basket and scored on consecutive drives to give UW a 52-42 lead with 10:45 left. An 87.2% free throw shooter entering the night, he hit 9 of 10 attempts from the line.
“I don’t know how many points…twenty-something?” Steven Crowl said when asked about Essegian’s play. “Obviously, he is a great player and we all know that.”
Crowl was aggressive from the opening possession against Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson. He hit 3 of his first 4 shots but then missed 9 of his last 11. However, he contributed 11 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and a steal.
“The big fella is definitely a big, big presence,” Howard said.
Max Klesmit added 10 points and stellar defense on Jett Howard. Tyler Wahl hit just 2 of 11 shots but contributed six points and nine rebounds. Kamari McGee was terrific with six points, one assist and a rebound in a season high 13:42.
Jordan Davis added five points and three rebounds. Carter Gilmore scored just one point but had three rebounds and an assists and battled the larger Dickinson when Crowl was on the bench.
McGee picked up the slack for Chucky Hepburn, who hit just 1 of 9 shots and finished with two points. Hepburn had a huge steal with UW holding a 61-57 lead, however.
“I feel like I gave a good spark on both ends,” McGee said. “Whether it was me being a pest on the defensive end or getting into the paint and making the right reads, I feel like I was all over the place. Gave us the spark that we needed.”
Kobe Bufkin, who entered the night having scored in double figures in four consecutive games, hit scored seven consecutive points in the second half to help Michigan pull within 55-49 and led the Wolverines with 21 points.
Dickinson, who came in leading Michigan in scoring (17.9 ppg) and rebounds (8.4), bantered with and motioned to the UW student section throughout the game. He finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. However, he missed all three field-goal attempts and had just three points in the second half.
Jett Howard (14.8 ppg, 38.5% three-point shooter) hit 1 of 6 three-pointers and 4 of 14 shots overall and finished with nine points.
Michigan eventually closed to within 55-54 with 4:10 left when Dug McDaniel (seven points) hit 1 of 2 free throws.
The Badgers put the game away with defense and free throws. They held Michigan to 2-for-11 shooting down the stretch and hit 9 of 10 free throws over the final 3:25.
“I just think staying solid on defense and rebounding,” Crowl said of the stretch run, “and then getting to the line and hitting the free throws down the stretch.
“I thought it was a great bounce-back win. But we can’t be satisfied. As we saw the other week, we beat Penn State and then we to Nebraska and lost. We can’t be satisfied with the win tonight. We have to come back on Saturday and get another win.
“That goes for the rest of the season. We’ve got to carry the momentum on.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The Badgers shoot 77.8% from free throw line in key win over Michigan
