Michigan Basketball faces their toughest road test in over a month. Can they tame the Badgers and extend their history-making start to their season?
Matchup: Michigan Wolverines (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten) at Wisconsin Badgers (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten)
Date and time: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 12:00 p.m. ET
TV schedule: ESPN
Location: Kohl Center, Madison, WI
Michigan Basketball is coming off a historic win against Northwestern last Sunday. That win moved their record to 17-0 which is the first time in school history that the Wolverines have started a season with that many wins. For the most part, John Beilein and the players shrugged it off and said that while it is nice to set the record they aren’t satisfied. They know the hurt from losing in the national championship game last year and want more.
Their 20 point win over the Wildcats was a big contrast from their first meeting when they held on for a two-point win in Evanston. The Wolverines jumped out to a 22 point halftime lead as Jon Teske exploded for 17 first-half points and they lock downed the Wildcat offense. The Wolverines have now won 15 of their 17 games by double digits and have only really been challenged by Northwestern in their first game.
Their opponent on Saturday, Wisconsin, comes into the game losing four of their last five games, including home losses to Minnesota and Purdue in overtime. The Badgers almost came back to beat Maryland on Monday but could not overcome their horrible first half where they only scored 15 points. They face a much tougher defense in Michigan and will need to be more efficient on the offensive end if they want to win the game.
This game has been circled by many as a place where the Wolverines could lose their first game, but Michigan has shown they can win anywhere so far this year and look to take on this challenge head-on.
We take a look at three keys for the Wolverines to pick up a tough road win and with Duke’s loss earlier this week possibly move up to number one in the country.