derrick walton
hoops game recaps
muhammad ali abdur-rahkman
2014-15 wisconsin

Wisconsin 69, Michigan 64 Comment Count

Ace

They played their asses off.

Despite Derrick Walton's tying three-pointer in the waning moments of the second half, Michigan couldn't quite pull off a colossal upset against Wisconsin. The ovation from the Crisler Center crowd after the game said it all, though—the fight was well worth the price of admission.

As early as the opening five minutes—in which time Michigan had fallen behind 7-2, their only bucket an implausible Spike Albrecht floater—there were any number of opportunities for the team to pack it in. After all, Albrecht was occasionally defending Wisconsin's superstar seven-footer, Frank Kaminsky, as Michigan frequently switched on defense in a sometimes comical effort to slow him down.

When Wisconsin went on a quick 9-0 run to end the half up seven, it felt like the excitement was over. Ditto when Sam Dekker extended that lead to 11 with an uncontested dunk four minutes into the second, prompting a Michigan timeout. After the Wolverines fought back to tie on a run sparked by the unlikely trio of Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Mark Donnal, and Kameron Chatman, the Badgers landed another series of blows, going up by as much as seven and maintaining the edge until the final moments of regulation.

But Michigan never quit. Walton charged to the hoop time and again, absorbing hit after hit to get to the line; he'd finish with 17 points, going 7/8 from the line. Adbur-Rahkman turned in his finest performance in a Michigan uniform, scoring nine (3/4 FG), playing solid defense, and keeping a couple crucial loose balls alive.

Walton took full control at the end of the half. With M down four and 0:31 on the clock, Josh Gasser missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Walton quickly capitalized with a Euro-step layup through contact. After Bronson Koenig split a pair of free throws, Walton sunk two of his own. Koenig went back to the line, this time drilling both with ten seconds remaining.

At first it appeared Aubrey Dawkins would be forced into a heavily contested heave over two defenders; instead, he dropped a nifty pass to Walton as he found an opening and swished home the tying triple. Crisler got as loud as it's been all season.

Kaminsky dominated the overtime session, opening it with an and-one on Ricky Doyle; he'd score eight points in the decisive period. That Michigan made it that far at all, though, felt like a win in and of itself. They've been written off by just about everyone since Caris LeVert went down for the season, but tonight they showed that when they're on their game, they can hang with the very best in the conference.

Comments

Yostbound and Down

January 24th, 2015 at 9:49 PM ^

The team played very well. 

I don't think it's possible (although this loss doesn't change this opinion much) for us to get an at-large bid. However, if we can hang this closely with the top team in the Big Ten, who's to say we can't string together a nice run in the tourney and sneak in?

Regardless I think it's been a good coaching job by Beilein after a rough start in the non-conference. The silver lining of Caris' injury is the chance to see who else can elevate their game. Walton looks like he will definitely continue to do that, hopefully he stays healthy to do so.

Joined: 07/27/2011

MGoPoints: -86513

ESNY

January 24th, 2015 at 9:49 PM ^

Impressed by the fight of the team and the aggressiveness tonight. Been lacking much of the season. Hope it is a sign of things to come.

Joined: 11/06/2008

MGoPoints: 12310

TheFrigz

January 24th, 2015 at 10:07 PM ^

I was at the game.  This is the first time in a very long time that I am not even upset about the loss.  What a hell of a game that was.  The fact that we even got to overtime without our best player just boggles my mind.  Losing sucks, but this is why college sports are awesome.  Go Blue.

Joined: 04/09/2012

MGoPoints: 4079

Wolverine Convert

January 24th, 2015 at 11:04 PM ^

I just did the math. Wisconsin had 131 minutes and 46 points from Juniors and Seniors - Michigan had 39 minutes and 11 points from their upperclassmen and we took them to overtime without our best player. We have 7 players with eligibility remaining that are gone - 5 in the NBA and two others playing major roles at two other D1 schools. (Florida and Maryland) John Beilein is the best coach in the country and the future is bright!

 

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 498

The Denarding

January 24th, 2015 at 11:32 PM ^

That was an amazing game and a blueprint for how this team is going to play the rest of the season.   A couple of observations:

1)  Walton is far from a hundred percent - he is amazing at the mid range game and creating space for his dribble drive but neither are just there yet as they were last year and even the early part of this year.   Gutsy performance by him tonight and I really wonder what this season would have been like if he hadn't hurt his toe against Villanova.  

2)   This Michigan is going to go four small and one big the rest of the year and they will zone aggressively on defense.   They are also going to drive the possessions down to as low a number as possible in any game.  This is their best chance to win.   The beauty of the 1-3-1 is you will drag out a possession which slows the game down considerably.  In addition, most teams aren't disciplined enough not to just chuck J's out of sheer frustration.   Wisconsin unfortunately is not one of those teams.  

3)  I really loved how the bigs played tonight - Donnal, Bielfeldt and Doyle all had great games. I repeat again - if Donnal or Bielfeldt can get a consistent outside stroke, this team will be a huge problem for a lot of the Big Ten.   Wisconsin actually defended the big on the outside on the high pick and roll and there aren't going to be many Big Ten teams that will.

4)  I love MAAR's game - absolutely love it.   He is going to be really, really good by the end of the season.  He has this great stutter step, he can score over contact and it looks like he is adding a confident looking three point shot to his game.  If he can hit the three watch out because the rest of his game is really nice.

5)   If Zak Irvin or Aubrey Dawkins hits threes this game wouldn't have been close.  Think about that for a second.   The wing three point ball is really what we are missing.  I did really like that Irvin had a nice two point game going today but he is still not shooting with the lethal efficiency I expected before the season.   It is actually hampering what could be a very nice two man game between him and Walton.

6)  One of things that is interesting is that Levert not being in the line up is actually causing less ball watcing and more ball movement and spacing.   I don't think that was Levert's fault but I think the inability of the bigs to really work the pick and roll game effectively led to a lot of iso possessions for Levert which either worked or didn't (somewhat like Pettaway last year for Nebraska).  Levert is actually not a good passer out of the pick and roll which means he usually had two hands in his face getting a shot up so that forced Beilein to put him in iso situations to generate offense.  Now that the "Levert will just bail us out" option doesn't exist, the team is forced to run through the sets with a lot more pick and roll, pick and pop and they are getting enough wing and stretch 4 threes to go down to advance the spacing more.  

I don't think they make the big dance (the EMU and NJIT losses are just absolute killers) but the NIT and a deep run in the NIT are both very feasible.   This will be a scary good team next year with a lot of scoring possibilities from the wings and off the ball.

Joined: 11/29/2010

MGoPoints: 1679

Ty Butterfield

January 24th, 2015 at 11:53 PM ^

The problem is the team has been too inconsistent. If they can keep playing like they did the last two games they could be dangerous down the stretch. I still think 9-9 in conference is the best case scenario. Hope Walton and Spike get healthy in the offseason. If those two come back healthy and don't get injured next season the team could look pretty good.

Joined: 09/07/2009

MGoPoints: -81685

Harbaugh Very Much

January 25th, 2015 at 8:26 AM ^

Great effort by all.  The bigs (Doyle, Donnal and Max) played with incredible hustle.  Especially Max.   Maar keeps growing. I liked the zone defenses.  All should be proud.  Grit.  

Joined: 01/03/2015

MGoPoints: 81

thatsmyjam

January 25th, 2015 at 9:15 AM ^

Max is turning into the player we need. He's consistent and he came up with big rebounds, we saw in OT what it would have looked like if Wisconsin could have gotten second (or third) chances but he really stopped that for most of the game. his 3 points are questionable but I like how sure he is of himself!



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Joined: 12/14/2013

MGoPoints: 367

thatsmyjam

January 25th, 2015 at 9:09 AM ^

Definitely proud, a bit of disappointment is normal but the fact that we enjoyed the majority of those minutes in Crisler is something I never expected to happen!

Students in the entire upper bowl were standing and yelling the entire time as if we were in Maize Rage. Definitely a better experience than usual! Plus we always stay til the end.

Despite not being in the bleachers (damn academic conferences!) I will say that watching that zone D from above was just beautiful.... As everyone has said this is an opportunity to see guys step up that we don't normally... Very happy so far with Rahk.



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Joined: 12/14/2013

MGoPoints: 367

ZB75

January 25th, 2015 at 9:31 AM ^

Its so great to watch these John Beilein teams never give up, and fight to the end all game long.  Just a remarkable job done by this coaching staff.  

Joined: 07/26/2011

MGoPoints: 1223

B-Nut-GoBlue

January 25th, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^

I've gotta eat some major crow.  I was glad to be wrong, but I was hugely pessimistic about this matchup.  Those guys proved me wrong, playing with more than just "heart" but some well played, sound, fundamental basketball.  The heart honestly showed more on the defensive side where they played a very touch offensive juggernaut (though, maybe not in a typical juggernaut way) very well; a few loose balls and given up offensive rebounds were frustrating but overall they kicked ass out there.

Such a good game to watch.  Glad I could come on here admit my ignorance going into last night's game.

Joined: 09/30/2011

MGoPoints: 43665

MGoBlue100

January 25th, 2015 at 4:36 PM ^

Tough when academic and athletic rigors are a lot more than you've been used to. That's what everyone has to adjust to in college, but most of us didn't have to do so on this stage. If the energy is there to maintain or even increase the effort, we'll see some very good things the remainder of the season from this squad, tournament or not.

Joined: 07/11/2008

MGoPoints: 348