Michigan Basketball: 3 Takeaways from the Wolverines loss to Wisconsin
Michigan basketball saw its five-game winning streak snapped Thursday night by Wisconsin and here are three instant takeaways for the Wolverines.
It wasn’t clear if Eli Brooks was going to play for Michigan basketball Thursday night until about an hour or so before tip-off and without him, the Wolverines struggled.
The big lineup was sort of sluggish and awkward and Wisconsin was able to take advantage early. The Badgers also knocked down 11 3-pointers compared to just three for the Wolverines in an 81-74 road win.
The loss was costly for a few reasons and I’ll break that down in a second. But here is a look at the three biggest takeaways from the Wolverines loss to Wisconsin Thursday night at the Crisler Center.
The loss of Eli Brooks hurt bad
Michigan basketball still could have won that game, even without Brooks, but for those that question his importance to the team, they shouldn’t any longer.
Not only was his ability to shoot missed, so was his ball-handling and most especially his defense. Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers clearly struggled defending smaller players and with the way Wisconsin defended Michigan, it didn’t really translate to an advantage on the other end either.
Wagner was able to get some things going late, but he and Livers only had a handful of 3-point attempts between the two of them and that proved costly and part of that came down to not having Brooks.
Like Simpson, he’s able to attack the basket and used a ball screen to potentially create other shots or at least create some space. Without him, there wasn’t as much ball movement, in part because of design and that hurt.
Thankfully, Brooks will be back in the lineup Sunday against Ohio State. He will be needed.
Wisconsin pulled a Michigan
You have to give the Badgers credit for their defensive strategy. All season long, Michigan basketball hasn’t been as effective when Zavier Simpson scored and the Badgers turned him into a scorer. He was able to distribute more in the second half with the help of ball screens, but Simpson wasn’t able to find open shooters like he normally does.
The Badgers were intent on forcing Michigan to shoot tough 2-point shots, which is usually what the Wolverines want to do.
It worked perfectly as Simpson scored 32 points but Michigan scored only nine points on 3-point attempts. Wisconsin, on the other hand, scored 33 and that proved to be the difference.
Double-bye hopes are dead
In the grand scheme of things, the loss to Wisconsin won’t hurt too badly. Michigan has seven quadrant-1 wins and is solidly in the NCAA tournament. Certainly, another few wins would help for seeding purposes, both for the big dance and the Big Ten tournament, but one thing that isn’t possible now is a top-four seed in the Big Ten tournament.
The coveted double-bye comes with that and after securing it last season, the Wolverines won’t get it this time around. That’s not the end of the world, they have won the tournament title without it twice before, but still, it makes it seem a little easier at least.