In the lone meeting between No. 6 Michigan and No. 22 Wisconsin this season, the Wolverines thought they had a huge road win sewn up after Tim Hardaway Jr.'s three-pointer put them up three with three seconds left. But Ben Brust's miraculous half-court heave as the buzzer sounded sent the game to overtime, and the Badgers pulled out a 65-62 victory in the extra frame.
Wisconsin vs. Michigan preview: Wolverines out for revenge in Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals
Fifth-seeded Michigan will look to avenge its stunning regular season overtime loss to fourth-seeded Wisconsin when the two teams face off in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
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Fifth-seeded Michigan will look to avenge that heartbreaking loss on Friday afternoon when they take on fourth-seeded Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. The Badgers have won 12 of the last 13 meetings between the two teams.
Despite finishing the regular season with a 26-6 record and a No. 6 ranking, the Wolverines were forced to play in the first round of the tournament due to finishing tied with the Badgers in conference with a record of 12-6. Michigan easily handled the 12th-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions 83-66 on Thursday, avenging a stunning defeat on Feb. 17. The Nittany Lions only won two Big Ten games all year, with their first coming against the Wolverines.
Conference player of the year Trey Burke led Michigan in the win over Penn State, scoring 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Hardaway and Nik Stauskas both had 15 points, and Mitch McGary notched a double-double off the bench.
Wisconsin is coming off a thrilling regular season finale against Penn State, a game in which Traevon Jackson hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Badgers a 63-60 victory. Jackson finished the game with 15 points and Sam Dekker added 14 off the bench.
This will be a matchup of contrasting styles, as the Wolverines like to play more uptempo while the Badgers play at their typically slower pace under coach Bo Ryan, who was recently named Big Ten coach of the year. Michigan is putting up 75.7 points per game on the season, thanks to their solid core of wings in Burke, Hardaway, Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III. But Wisconsin has been great defensively, giving up just 56.0 points per game.
The winner of this game will face the winner of the morning quarterfinal contest between the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers and the eighth-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini.
Tip-off is at 2 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on ESPN.
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