Wolverine Watch: Ripping Off The Rust

The thermometer read -4 when Michigan took the court for the first time in more than three weeks on Sunday.

They didn’t care about that, even getting off the bus. Juwan Howard said they’d play in the parking lot, if you let them. Somebody finally let them, so they were determined to show up.

The question involved how they’d show up. After all, for most of their enforced basketball sabbatical, they couldn’t even practice. They couldn’t let the sweat flow on the court, keeping sharp the skills they’d honed in their rise from unranked to No. 3 in the nation in a 13-1 start.

They destroyed Wisconsin the first time around, at Crisler Center. It wound up 77-54, and it wasn’t that close. The Wolverines twisted the Badgers into knots defensively, and unwound them unmercifully at the other end.

But this was different. One, it wasn’t at home. Two, the Badgers tucked the first-meeting humiliation in their back pocket for motivation. Three, the Wolverines were coming off the least-welcome vacation in the long and glorious history of down time.

So there wasn’t going to be any 40-point lead for the Wolverines on this day. For a while, it didn’t look like there would be a four-point edge. Wisconsin opened up doing what they do — playing at a glacial pace, getting back on defense and hitting shots when it counted in their own building.

They built a 20-14 first-half lead, and even the cardboard cutouts in the Kohl center began getting excited. When the Badgers’ advantage grew to 39-27 at the half, the cardboard risked spontaneous combustion.

CBS analyst Bill Raftery noted the Wolverines were “off a beat” — missing chances, looking out of sync, fouling at the end of the shot clock, etc. Michigan sudden looked like a crew that could be caught and passed in the Big Ten race, rather than a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“In the first half, we didn’t play our best,” said Howard, who came in concerned about his team starting with and maintaining energy. “Wisconsin was playing really well. They were disruptive defensively, making shots — particularly from the three-point line. We got punched in the mouth first.”

The Wolverines suffered through their worst half of the season shooting the ball, their court absence putting them in handcuffs for 20 minutes.

Then it all changed.

The Wolverines came roaring back — making shots, forcing turnovers, and performing with an unhurried, methodical confidence.

Freshman center Hunter Dickinson led the defensive charge, blocking five shots and grabbing 15 rebounds for the Wolverines. The Badgers grew colder than Madison after halftime, shooting 25 percent and going 1-for-12 from three-point range.

Michigan fought all the way back, grabbing a one-point lead, surrendering it, and ripping it from the Badgers again. Senior forward Isaiah Livers’ three-pointer with 2:46 remaining put the Wolverines on top, 59-57.

They never gave back that lead.

They crushed the Badgers at the defensive end, surrendering 20 second-half points. They made the big shots. They looked like themselves, as if Howard used a halftime file on whatever rust hadn’t already flaked off.

“It’s a big, big, big confidence builder,” Howard acknowledged. “We didn’t lose our confidence before this game by having a pause, but to get a win like this on the road, it’s a great feeling. We’re going to enjoy it…

“There’s a lot of growth from that second half. Good things are going to happen because of having positive people who are part of this team, that have been all in from day one. It’s one game, and one big win. Now, we just pray to God that we can all stay healthy.”

It’s tough to overstate what the second-half comeback means in this situation. The Wolverines were staring at a loss, a possible confidence wobble and an Illinois crew breathing down their necks.

Their 67-59 victory buys back all of that, and more. Before the break, Howard’s crew fought itself into position as one of the top four NCAA seeds in the country. To give it back, or engender doubt, under these circumstances would have been maddening for a team shelved without so much as one positive COVID-19 test.

Instead, they get a very winnable home contest against Rutgers, before gearing up for two more tough road tests — at Ohio State and Indiana. That’s in addition, of course, to whatever make-up games the Big Ten throws their way.

All of which makes the second-half Badger bust a boon. Win all you can, while you can. If you can get back fully up to speed in the process, so much the better.

Michigan looked right after intermission. That means they’re ready for a really big show down the stretch.

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