Michigan 77, Wisconsin 70
If you happen to have tickets to a Michigan basketball home game, show up an hour before tipoff. You'll see Nik Stauskas shooting his way around the three-point arc. Many of these aren't just any shots—the between-the-legs stepback is an integral part of his arsenal. He rarely misses. It's a joy to watch.
As Michigan stood on the precipice of another heartbreaking loss at the Kohl Center, Stauskas matched up against Wisconsin freshman Nigel Hayes. He hit him with the stepback. Collectively, we stepped back, too—off the ledge, and into a glorious world full of Muppets and unprecedented road wins.
U-M official says this is highest-ranked road win ever, surpassing beating No. 5 Duke in 1964
— Mark Snyder (@Mark__Snyder) January 19, 2014
Stauskas put together an MVP-worthy performance, scoring 16 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, including Michigan's final 11 points of the game. While Stauskas got plenty of help from Caris LeVert (20 points) and Glenn Robinson III (14), he was the driving force behind an offense that put up 1.16 points per trip in this one; the Badgers couldn't corral him as he repeatedly darted into the lane, creating open pull-up jumpers for himself or slipping the ball down low to a teammate—Jon Horford and Jordan Morgan combined for a perfect 6/6 mark from the field.
Tasked with producing just about all of the offense, Stauskas and LeVert had their slipups—collectively shooting 14/32 from the field with six turnovers doesn't always bode well. However, LeVert managed to get layups out of otherwise stagnant possessions—including an and-one in which he swiped a rebound from an unsuspecting Frank Kaminsky—and, when he sputtered in the late going, Stauskas simply took over.
LeVert also played a huge role in Michigan jumping out to a lead to begin with, drilling a pair of triples in the first five minutes when Wisconsin lost him on the perimeter. Stauskas had an early three of his own, Robinson added two near-identical jumpers from the elbow after curling around screens, and the Wolverines found themselves up ten at the midway point of the first half.
Wisconsin kept fighting back on the strength of big-time performances from Ben Brust (14 points, 5/10 FG) and Josh Gasser (16 points, 4/5 3-pt), the men responsible for two particularly brutal Wolverine losses. Every time Michigan threatened to blow the game open, they'd tighten the margin, with a Brust jumper cutting the halftime margin to just five. The Wolverines had shot 61% to that point—including a 4/5 mark from beyond the arc—and a second-half run felt inevitable.
It happened—of course it did—after a LeVert layup pushed the lead to 13 with eight minutes to play. As is the norm at Kohl, it was brutally slow. Both teams went scoreless for two minutes before Gasser hit a three-pointer. Then the floodgates briefly opened, with Wisconsin scoring on each of their next three possessions to make it a one-basket game before Stauskas stopped the bleeding with a two-point jumper.
The Badgers would get as close as one point when Brust, initially stymied by Morgan, wouldn't be denied a layup. But after empty possessions from both teams, Stauskas stepped back and delivered the blow that sent Wisconsin reeling, though the Badgers didn't hit the canvas until stringing out the game at the free throw line. After six consecutive makes at the charity stripe, Stauskas' work was done.
For tonight, anyway. Tomorrow, he'll be back in the gym practicing those stepbacks, because he'll never stop working until he never misses.
January 18th, 2014 at 9:30 PM ^
Absolutely gigantic win for the team and for tournament/seeding prospects.
Playing with house money now against Iowa and MSU this week.
January 18th, 2014 at 9:32 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 9:40 PM ^
Eh, I will consider a loss to Iowa a letdown.
January 19th, 2014 at 2:29 AM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
I would have. Everyone has been talking about how we will probably go 1-2 over this three game stretch. The one that I was expecting to win was the Iowa game. The team is very good, and a bit scary, but the game is at Crisler. It's a must-win.
January 19th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
If we had lost to UW, Iowa would have been an absolute must-win IMO. Its importance is slightly reduced now, but we still can't really afford to lose home games.
January 18th, 2014 at 9:32 PM ^
Proud to be a University of Michigan Wolverine.
January 19th, 2014 at 2:28 AM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 9:33 AM ^
womens field hockey didn't live up to the hype this year?
January 18th, 2014 at 9:50 PM ^
I don't think people know how hard that is...because your momentum take throwing you WAY off balance. To be able to get a shot off and jump straight up and down is...WOW.
Great win.
We're actually right where I predicted we'd be, well before the season. I even thought we'd win @ Wisconsin, I just didn't think they'd be #3 in the country.
I think this Iowa game is going to be another tough one, it worries me a little. We REALLY need the W vs. Iowa. I didn't think we'd win either game vs. MSU, I hope I'm wrong, but that is where I thought our first B1G loss would come.
Preseason I also said over and over, this team is going to be fun to watch because it's going to get better as the year goes on. That's starting to take effect. It's only natural guys settle into roles.
You had to figure we were going to drop some games early, especially close ones because no one had a role. You could almost see Stauskas forcing it before his teammates were ready to acknowledge that winning time, is his time. There was still that "but what about McGary and GRIII?" Also, remember Caris was playing out of his mind...even better than Nik. That said, even with McGary, the ball is in Nik's hands at the end of the game. He just has that "it" factor.
Now the team has roles. The PG situation is clearer. GRIII is comfortable. Staukas is the leader. LeVert is going to keep taking advantage of teams from his 3rd option spot. Even Irvin is more comfortable now. Then you can't say enough about the Horford/Morgan combo...people forget, these are two solid B1G post players. Neither is an NBA draft pick, but together they're a nice duo that is up there with just about anyone else in the league.
All in all, you have a great TEAM. We're still going to drop a game or two because we rely on shooting so much and we don't have McGary down low to grab offensive boards and run around like a madman to make up for poor shooting nights. But we're still a dangerous team.
I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this team on the 2nd weekend of March Madness. In fact, that is where I put them. A Sweet 16 team. Something like a 5 seed in the midwest.
BTW, lookout for this team in the B1G tournament, we may get swept by MSU in the regular season, but I could definitely see us winning the B1G tournament.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:29 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:53 AM ^
...and there will be a couple other teams that put even LESS stock in it this year.
IMO, Beilein may only win it once in his career. I think this is the year.
I don't see us getting past the Sweet 16, but if we get there, PLUS win a B1G Tournament Championship, it's been a great year.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:04 PM ^
Someone in the game thread had just got done saying "Stauskas doesn't have a clutch bone in his body."
Apparently, he does.
January 18th, 2014 at 11:21 PM ^
Someone in the game thread is a dumbass.
January 18th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 12:13 AM ^
I predicted in the pre-game post that Wisconsin would win by 16.
January 19th, 2014 at 12:29 PM ^
for owning it.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:11 PM ^
He just aims some at the rim to hide his immortality.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:22 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 2:27 AM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 10:32 PM ^
can establish a lead.
Great teams can weather the comeback that other teams make.
What a great win...I lost my voice screaming at the TV.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:33 PM ^
Michigan basketball this year seems to be the perfect example of the Ewing Theory.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:37 PM ^
No, not at all. The main condition is that the star player gets lots of attention but the team never wins anything. Mitch was our best player through the entire tournament, all the way to the championship game.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:43 PM ^
My understanding is that the team unexpectedly gets better after a star player is injured or leaves the team for other reasons. But yes, the fact the team had to never win anything previously would suggest it doesn't apply entirely.
January 19th, 2014 at 2:34 AM ^
- A star athlete receives an inordinate amount of media attention and fan interest, and yet his teams never win anything substantial with him (other than maybe some early-round playoff series).
- That same athlete leaves his team (either by injury, trade, graduation, free agency or retirement) -- and both the media and fans immediately write off the team for the following season.
From the original Ewing Theory column.
January 19th, 2014 at 7:32 PM ^
Ewing did make and lose the 1994 finals. He was always a great player, just never managed to win the title.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:46 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 10:47 PM ^
Agree with all that the stepback was sick. And major kudos for a TEAM win.
In a separate, but related, item, kudos to Ace for a very nicely written game column. More MGoBlog excellence.
January 18th, 2014 at 10:51 PM ^
good column.
better win.
best: a stepback clutch three to re-take control of the game.
QED, Stauskas is Legend.
January 19th, 2014 at 1:09 AM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 7:43 AM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 9:30 AM ^
to feel good about the victory and the effort......but now I guess I won't - I will be crtical and complain - thanks
January 18th, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^
January 18th, 2014 at 11:25 PM ^
I don't have good feelings about a player of a different sport leaving early for baseball. Just saying.
January 18th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 1:07 AM ^
Morgan was nearly in a full nelson. Replay shows it was a great call. A great call that bailed us out.
January 19th, 2014 at 7:20 AM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 3:23 PM ^
Not sure if he could have gotten a putback up before the clock expired, but he was absolutely fouled. Dumb play by the Badgers.
January 19th, 2014 at 7:30 PM ^
Gotta give him a chance for a tap-in, plenty of time for that.
January 19th, 2014 at 9:28 AM ^
has been exposed as slow and unathletic
January 19th, 2014 at 9:30 AM ^
There are probably some people who think that Jeffrey Dahmer didn't eat people too.
January 19th, 2014 at 11:28 AM ^
Are you trying to say that when he was quoted as giving his mother in law the cold shoulder, he literally gave her a cold shoulder?
January 19th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
Where was Dahmer from?
If you guessed Wisconsin you are correct.
January 19th, 2014 at 11:23 PM ^
He actually spent his formative years in Ohio and his first term of college was at Ohio State.
January 19th, 2014 at 9:33 AM ^
McMorgan had great position, Uw's guy was slightly behind him with an arm over his. McMorgan couldn't get off the ground it was a good call. I was just surprised more that a B10 officiating crew would call it. This is one of those 'let em' play' leauges so good call just not one you'll see often in conference play.
January 19th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^
As salty as I was when Brust didn't get called for double dribble on his layup? He ran into Morgan and threw the ball up. Then went over Morgan, caught the ball and made a layup.
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