Michigan Basketball: Loss to Wisconsin by the numbers

Sunday, Michigan basketball fell short of a road win against Wisconsin, dropping to 8-7 in Big Ten play. While many Wolverine fans were upset due to some after-the-game drama involving head coach Juwan Howard, the poor gameplay of Michigan only made the day worse.

Here’s a look at Michigan basketball’s loss to Wisconsin by the numbers.

69.2

The Wolverines only shot 69.2 percent from the line compared to Wisconsin’s 93.8 percent, which was the Badgers’ best team free throw percentage of the season. Michigan basketball only went to the line 13 times all game, resulting in much greater importance in making these “free” shots. Wisconsin on the other hand only missed one of their sixteen free throw attempts.

38

Despite losing the game, the Wolverines won the rebound battle by 10. More specifically, Michigan basketball had 13 offensive rebounds compared to the Badgers’ four. That being said, the Wolverines only scored 10 points off of their 13 offensive rebounds whereas Wisconsin scored nine second-chance points while only having four offensive rebounds.

25

Badgers’ sophomore guard Johnny Davis scored 25 points on Sunday, shooting 67.4 percent from the field. Davis also went perfect from the line and contributed to Wisconsin’s defense with three blocks. Michigan simply could not find a way to stop Davis in the second half where he scored 17 of his 25 points.

21

Sophomore center Hunter Dickinson scored 21 points against the Badgers — the only Wolverine to consistently score in double digits throughout the season. Dickinson also went perfect from the line and grabbed five defensive rebounds for Michigan. Regardless of how good Dickinson plays each game, he cannot singlehandedly win games for the Wolverines.

17

Wisconsin scored 17 points off of turnovers compared to Michigan basketball only scoring six. The Badgers turned the ball over eight times throughout the game, five coming in the second half. The Wolverines in contrast allowed 12 turnovers, letting Wisconsin score on eight of them.

16

Michigan basketball shot 16 percent from three against the Badgers — making only one of their 10 3-point attempts in the first half. Graduate guard Eli Brooks and freshman Caleb Houstan each made two of the teams four total 3-pointers. Wisconsin did not make a single three in the first half, however made up for this by shooting 57 percent from three in the second half.

14

The Badgers won the matchup by 14 points — their first conference win of more than 10 points. Wisconsin went on a 15-2 run in the middle of the second half, the run that basically put the game out of reach. After this lead was gained, the Wolverines were unable to close the gap, allowing the Badgers to lead by double digits for the remainder of the game.

11

Wisconsin had 11 bench points against Michigan, which may not seem like a lot, however, the Badgers only average 7.3 bench points per game in Big Ten play. The Wolverines only had eight bench points in the matchup due to the U-M bench only shooting 15 percent from the field.

7

Senior forward Brandon Johns Jr only played seven minutes against the Badgers. After starting the first six games this season, Johns has been playing less and less after not being able to get in a groove and only scoring in double digits once this season in a breakout game against Nebraska. He has only played 22 minutes over the course of the last 3 games and has not scored any points in these games.

3

Freshman forward Moussa Diabate only scored three points against Wisconsin after dropping a season-high 28 points last week against Iowa. While the Wolverines as a whole have struggled with scoring consistency this season, a sudden drop off this large definitely played a large part in Michigan’s loss.

Author’s Take

The Wolverines are in crunch time as the NCAA tournament nears and simply do not have the time or opportunities to allow losses like this.

Michigan does not have an easy remaining schedule by any means and with multiple players and coaches likely to be suspended, everyone will have to step up for these remaining matchups.