Michigan’s return to court is a brutal reminder of how tough the Big Ten is, as the Wolverines will play their first game on the road in more than three weeks against one of the league’s favorites on Sunday in Wisconsin. The Badgers have alternated between wins and losses over the past few weeks, while Michigan has been quiet, but the no. 21 Badgers enters the meeting as one of the seven Big Ten teams.
The no. 3 Wolverines won the first event on January 12, 77-54 in a match of top-10 teams at the time. That 23-point defeat was Wisconsin’s lowest point of the season and its biggest margin of defeat. Motivation should therefore not be a problem for the Badgers because they want revenge. The Badgers are also 11-2 at Kohl Center this season and should definitely have a conditioning advantage on Sunday if the Wolverines drive up again. But Michigan has remained a top-five team for a reason, and that’s a 13-1 record that includes an 8-1 start to the Big Ten game.
Determining how ready the Wolverines will be to compete against a high-quality enemy after their interruption is difficult, but coach Juwan Howard has shown that he can get a lot out of this Michigan series. This determines what an informative second meeting between two teams with serious post-season aspirations should be.
View information
- When: Sunday, 13:00 ET
- Where: Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin
- TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (free)
- OTT: CBS Sports App (Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast)
Stories
Michigan: Minnesota ended Michigan’s unbeaten run on January 16, but the Wolverines won their next two games against league opponents by double figures before the school’s entire athletics department closed after a COVID-19 variant was discovered on campus. As a result, Michigan has not played since January 22nd. But the Wolverines have plenty of time to get back on track before the post-season, and there is plenty of reason to believe that this group can get the form it enjoyed before the break. Although the star freshman, Hunter Dickinson, started to decline a bit before the break, he is an absolute force. So do senior forward Isaiah Livers and versatile sophomore Franz Wagner. Collectively, the trio offer problems with their height and physicality, while senior guards Mike Smith, Chaundee Brown and Eli Brown provide a steady game from the backcourt.
Wisconsin: Defense is the backbone of this team, and no one has scored more than 74 opponents on the Badgers this season. Wisconsin has kept ten opponents under 60 points this season, including six ten major teams. The Badgers are 6-0 in those games, and they certainly have visions to keep the well-equipped Wolverines below the benchmark. Offensively, the Badgers play at a slower pace than anyone in the Big Ten, resulting in a thin lead for erroneous attack. As such, the effectiveness of their 3-point shooting over the past few weeks seems to have played an extraordinary role. Wisconsin has shot 36.8% in its last three wins and hit at least nine three-pointers, but in its last three losses there have been only six points from three points and it has shot just 22.5% from outside the arc.
Game prediction, select
Last chance:
Wisconsin Badgers -1
Do not expect too many points in a match of two defenses that KenPom occupies in the top 10 at national level. Wisconsin was embarrassed in the first meeting by Michigan. In addition to the extra motivation, the Badgers also need to bring better conditioning and general readiness into this game due to Michigan’s dismissal. Forecast: Wisconsin 64, Michigan 58
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