Madison, Wis. — Poor 3-point shooting. Season-high tying 15 turnovers. Five combined points from redshirt junior wing Charles Matthews…
Madison, Wis. — Poor 3-point shooting. Season-high tying 15 turnovers. Five combined points from redshirt junior wing Charles Matthews and freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis.
Add in a raucous crowd and a venue where Michigan has notoriously struggled, it’s not a recipe for success.
It all proved to be too much for No. 2 Michigan to overcome as Wisconsin handed it its first loss of the season, 64-54, on Saturday at the Kohl Center.
BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 64, Michigan 54
Junior center Jon Teske scored 15 points, sophomore guard Jordan Poole 14 and junior guard Zavier Simpson had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan (17-1,6-1 Big Ten), which suffered its first regular-season defeat since Feb. 6,2018.
Ethan Happ had 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Wisconsin (12-6,4-3), which snapped a three-game slide in the series.
After an ugly back-and-forth struggle through the opening 20 minutes, the second half wasn’t any prettier.
Michigan and Wisconsin continually traded blow after blow, refusing to back down and let the other team get any sort of breathing room.
When the Wolverines took their largest lead, 34-29, with 17:06 to play following five straight points from Teske — two free throws and a 3-pointer — they couldn’t keep the cushion.
