Michigan basketball's second-half comeback falls short in 64-59 loss at Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. — For the second time in as many trips to Madison, Juwan Howard got in somebody's face on the court.

Only this time, it was referee Kipp Kissinger.

First, Howard thought Wisconsin's Connor Essegian got away with a travel. Then, his son, Jett Howard, drove to the basket but missed a layup. The head coach then ran onto the court to make his feelings known.

He was assessed a technical foul, Essegian hit both free-throw attempts to cap a 15-4 run aided by five Michigan turnovers and the Badgers took a 12-point lead.

The Wolverines didn't wilt. They put together a 12-1 run to get within one with 4:10 to play, but despite forcing Wisconsin to miss its final 14 attempts from the field, couldn't capitalize on the offensive end. Michigan went just 2-for-11 in the final 7:21 of the game and just 6-for-10 from the free-throw line as its comeback effort fell short, 64-59.

Essegian had a team-high 23 points, Steven Crowl finished with an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double and Max Klesmit scored 10.

Kobe Bufkin scored a team-high 21 for Michigan and Hunter Dickinson had 12 points and 12 rebounds, his ninth double-double of the season.

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For Michigan (14-12, 8-7 Big Ten), it's the second consecutive loss following its three-game winning streak, which was tied for a season long. The Wolverines host rival Michigan State at 8 p.m. Saturday in Ann Arbor.

Back-and-forth out of the gate

The game was back-and-forth from the tip as the lead changed hands 11 times in the first 20 minutes.

Wisconsin got out to a 5-0 lead two possessions into play, before U-M ripped off a 9-2 run, capped off by a Dickinson tip-in. After an Essegian 3-pointer put Wisconsin ahead by one, Bufkin threw down a thunderous slam after he pump-faked a 3-pointer and got to the rack to put Michigan back up by one.

Neither team led by more than two points for the next 10 minutes until Essegian hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 6:14 to play to give the Badgers a 24-20 lead. He scored the prior bucket, too, when he beat Joey Baker on a back door cut and threw down a dunk.

Klesmit followed with a 3-pointer from the left wing to punctuate an 8-0 run and force a Michigan timeout.

The Wolverines, which had gone 1-for-8 before the stoppage, ended the half with a flurry, making their final five shots.

It started with a Dug McDaniel jumper from the elbow. Then, Will Tschetter, who got his first career start in place of Terrance Williams (bruised knee), got the ball on the left block and spun into the lane where he finished a hook.

Dickinson made a 3-pointer from the left wing off a kick-out from McDaniel on the ensuing trip before he hit a lefty hook over Crowl and pumped his arms in the air, encouraging the boos that echoed around Kohl Center. A Bufkin 3-pointer with five seconds left ended the 12-4 spurt for Michigan to close the half with a 32-31 lead.

Sloppy with the ball

Michigan, which entered the game sixth in the nation in turnovers per game (9.6), committed 12 on the night and had a slew of them early in the second half.

Bufkin was called for a travel as U-M trailed, 39-38. After Crowl finished over Dickinson on the other end, Bufkin was called for an offensive foul. Wisconsin was later up, 46-40, after Crowl buried a 3-pointer when it looked like Howard and Dickinson connected on an alley-oop, but it was waved off for basket interference.

Tschetter was called for a charge on the next trip before Kamari McGee hit a slashing layup to put Wisconsin up 48-40. After a Tarris Reed Jr. bucket temporarily stopped the run, Wisconsin scored six straight, all by Essegian.

Bufkin gets hot, Badgers get cold

That's when Bufkin got going. He hit a layup to cut the deficit to 10, then later he hit a step-back 3-pointer and a mid-range jumper in transition to pull Michigan within six. Reed then made two free throws, U-M's first of the game, with 6:41 left to pull within four.

Dickinson followed with a pair of free throws to get within two before McDaniel split a pair to cut Wisconsin's lead to 55-54 with 4:10 to play.

At the same time, Wisconsin missed 14 straight from the field after Essegian's layup with 10:45 to play. First Klesmit, then Essegian, then Tyler Wahl twice. Essegian missed a 3-pointer, Crowl missed a jumper, McGee couldn't connect on a long ball and Wahl misised a layup.

Klesmit missed again, so did Hepburn, Wahl and Crowl on a jumper with 1:29 to play.

The issue, was Michigan couldn't score from the field either. After Bufkin's jumper with 7:22, U-M went cold down the stretch for the second straight game. Michigan missed eight straight field goals over the next 6:58 before Howard's layup with 24.5 seconds to play.

Bufkin would add a layup with seven seconds left but the Badgers made enough free throws down the stretch to hold on.

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball loses a close one, yet again, 64-59 to Wisconsin