Michigan and Wisconsin played a game very similar to the one U-M lost in Wisconsin last month, with a few key differences.
One, U-M held Ethan Happ in check in the second half. After a first half in which junior Jon Teske played passively to avoid foul trouble, allowing Happ 14 points, he clamped down in the second. He got a little help from his friends, but held Happ to four more points the rest of the way.
“No. 1, he got his third foul at the start of the second half,” Gard said of Happ. “So he sat, and it got him out of rhythm a little bit. You’ve got a 6-11 (actually 7-1) guy behind you and then they’re pesky around him. Zavier Simpson does a good job of digging; he squeezes the floor pretty well.
“There were times where we over-dribbled. We held the ball too long in that position and didn’t move it. Obviously, that allows him to collapse and squeeze the ball quite a bit. It makes it harder to finish. But also, he had some pretty good looks that normally he converts on.”
Teske was more physical in the second half, however, and forced some of the misses. Gard was the latest to notice how far U-M’s big man has come.
Teske finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds after scoring 15 in Madison.
“He’s improved so much,” Gard said. “We recruited him some out of Medina (Ohio), too. His jump, what he’s done, adding his perimeter shot. But also, he’s gotten better. His body has changed; his conditioning has gotten better. He can play in longer stretches, and he’s gotten better with his feet, so he’s better in ball screens.
“He’s harder to get to make mistakes, so to speak, and obviously at (7-1), much like Nate Reuvers is for us, he’s a shadow inside that affects some shots, but also the presence of him in there also alters how people think of him and where he is. He does a good job of not getting out of position, walling up, and only leaves his feet when it’s necessary, when he has to.
“That’s a pretty solid piece in the middle for them.”
Juniors Simpson and Charles Matthews are thought to be the defensive catalysts, and deservedly so. Game-in and game-out, however, Teske is the leading plus-minus guy for the Wolverines (by far), and he was again Saturday. He finished plus-17 to Simpson’s second-best plus-nine.
“It’s a good team that’s going to be pretty good defensively," Gard said. "You know it’s going to be a lower possession game. You’re not going to get a lot of free possessions back, so you’ve got to convert when you have those opportunities, and we weren’t able to do that and put ourselves in a hole … that made it a two possession or more game in the last two minutes. Much like playing against us, that’s a hard hill to climb against Michigan.
“John’s got a good team.”
Especially when Matthews plays like he did in the second half. He was confident, hit big shot after big shot and was the difference when points were hard to come by.
“The second half, I thought we let him get too comfortable,” Gard said. “I thought we did a decent job in the first half on him. He had the one layup in transition, but in the second half, he got free in the post on us. He got some confidence. When you get easy baskets like that, then the jump shots, the intermediate ones, the contested ones become easier, because he’s got some confidence. The basket looks bigger.
“I think we let that happen in some regards, but obviously, it’s a credit to Charles, too, because he made plays. He’s done that for them – he makes big shots. Once he got going, he was hard to stop.”
Michigan improved to 11-2 in conference play while Wisconsin fell to 9-4. The Badgers have an easier schedule the rest of the way, however, and are still in it, especially if they can beat Michigan State at home Tuesday.
“Two really good teams, and like the game in Madison, it was going to come down to the last couple minutes,” Gard said. “A little bit of a flip of the script in terms of them making plays in the last two minutes … not only the last two minutes but in other parts of the game.”
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