Wisconsin men's basketball falls in its Big Ten opener against Michigan

MADISON – Michigan’s Twin Towers were too much for the Wisconsin men’s basketball team on Tuesday night.

The Wolverines handed over the 11th^Th-Ranked Badgers suffered their first loss of the season, 67-64, at the Kohl Center with 7-footers Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin leading the way.

Goldin, a graduate student transfer from Florida Atlantic, finished his career with 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Wolf, a junior from Yale, scored 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 2-for-4 from three-point range, and finished his career with five assists.

The two combined for 28 points in the second half.

BOX score:Michigan 67, Wisconsin 64

Goldin scored the Wolverines’ last three shots, one point of the game, as they erased a three-point deficit.

The game was the Big Ten opener for both teams, and for Michigan (7-1), it was the second straight win over a ranked opponent. It defeated then-No. 22 Xavier by 25 points last week.

The loss ended the third-best start in program history for the Badgers, who fell to 8-1.

Sophomore John Tonje finished with 18 points on 5-for-12 shooting for UW. Sophomore John Blackwell scored 16 points and set a career high with nine rebounds.

Wisconsin’s final points came with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left, and its final attempt to force overtime bounced hard off the back of the basket as Tonje’s three-quarter shot at the buzzer narrowly missed. Between those points, the Badgers came up empty on five possessions.

Next up is UW’s first true away game on Saturday at Marquette.

“I think we’re going to respond great,” Blackwell said. “We have a great group of veterans who have been through this. They won’t win every game, so we’ll be fine. We’re just going to build on this loss and move on.” To take it on the chin and just move on.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

It was a bad night for UW’s shooters and there were still chances

Wisconsin shot a season-low 34.4%, including a season-low 22% from three-point range, allowed Goldin a career-high in points and Wolf a career-high in assists, and still lost by just three points.

The Badgers definitely left points on the field. Winter failed to finish a couple of early layups down the court in the first half, and with six minutes left, he failed to draw a foul as he went hard to the rim for a potential dunk. Instead, Michigan’s Roddy Gayle got the block.

Crowl struggled to finish against Goldin’s size. And on the perimeter, senior Max Klesmit couldn’t always find his shot. He was 4-for-10 from the floor, including 1-for-9 from three-point range, although he hit a tough turnaround jumper in the lane to give UW a 64-61 lead with 2 minutes, 37 seconds to play.

“We had to knock down a couple threes so we could spread the floor a little bit more,” Gard said. “And if we can spread the floor a little more, we can attack gaps and get to the free throw line a little better. …

“I thought we looked good. I didn’t think they were all great, but we usually shoot 25 to 30 a game and obviously you have to shoot at a clip better than 6 for 27.”

Foul problems subside, impacting Steven Crowl’s impact

Wisconsin might have had more success defending Michigan’s big-man pick-and-roll if Crowl could have seen more action in the final 10 minutes of the game. He saw the floor for 48 seconds in that portion of the game.

He came back into the game with 7:11 left, but was benched after picking up his fourth foul with 6:52 left. He returned with 3:36 left but was fouled during a scrum for a loose ball.

It was a tough exit from the game. Would he have made a difference? We’ll never know, of course, but he’s a better physical match for Goldin than he was for Winter, who had to contend with him while Crowl was on the bench.

Michigan’s two-man game will be worth watching

It was just one game, but the combination of Wolf and Goldin could be a challenge for many Big Ten teams. While Goldin is a liability at 7-1 and 250 pounds, it’s Wolf’s ability to handle the ball and make good decisions or make strong finishes at the rim that made the Wolverines so tough in the second half.

Every one of his assists in the second half went to Goldin for dunks or very high percentage shots at the rim. This play played a big role in the Wolverines shooting 61.5% in the second half.

Michigan coach Dusty May called Wolf a guard in the body of a 7-foot player.

“We’re trying to figure out what our best plan of attack is in the halfcourt, and this has been a really efficient offense for us in a really small sample size,” May said, “so we’ve just started to get it done.” Everyone needs to be aware of that and then with Danny, because it’s a new role for him, it’s all about hitting the singles, but he wasn’t trying to hit home runs.”

Wisconsin men’s basketball falls in its Big Ten opener against Michigan

ByAmelia Journalton

By Amelia Journalton

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