Remember when Wisconsin’s offense struggled and seemed to have a firm ceiling of 61 to 64 points per game? Remember when the idea of Wisconsin scoring more than 65 points seemed hard to entertain? Those days seem so long ago. Wisconsin has been hanging 70 or more on the board for the past few weeks. The Badgers have found their best groove on offense this season, peaking at the right time of year.
Thursday night in Ann Arbor, this Wisconsin offense will face a significant challenge: the Michigan Wolverines’ defense.
Michigan is playing lights-out defense, making Thursday’s game a clash of two formidable forces.
How great has Michigan’s defense been the last two games? I could spend a lot of time using colorful adjectives, but why do that when the numbers themselves make their own very powerful and resonant statement?
In its last two games, both on the road, Michigan held Rutgers and Purdue to a combined 47 of 126 shooting clip from the field, or 37 percent. Michigan held the Scarlet Knights and Boilermakers to a 7 of 34 shooting line on 3-pointers, just above 20 percent. Michigan limited Rutgers and Purdue to a combined 21 free throw attempts in those two games, an average of 10.5 attempts per game. Michigan forced as many turnovers — 21 — as the number of free throw attempts it allowed in those two games.
You can’t get much better than that. Michigan is contesting shots. Michigan is running teams off the 3-point line. Michigan is not fouling too much, especially in the act of shooting. Michigan is forcing some turnovers, albeit not a ton. Coach Juwan Howard has his players extremely focused. Howard knows his team does not have a ton of offensive upside; defense, as was the case with John Beilein’s teams in recent years at Michigan, is the main engine for the Wolverines.
Wisconsin’s offensive renaissance is something we have detailed in various articles earlier this week. Michigan’s defense wants to bring that rebirth to a halt. This is what makes Thursday’s game so compelling.
This is why we watch.