Wisconsin played terribly, missing every field goal for the last 10 minutes of the game to allow a 12-point lead to fall to two. To compensate, the officiating might have set a new Trohl Center record for lopsidedness. The difference then, was Michigan, or at least most of Michigan, once again failing to score, play defense, or rebound in another close resume loss.

With Terrance Williams II out with a deep knee bruise, Will Tschetter started at the four. The energy boost he provided however wore off as Wisconsin took advantage of his lack of athleticism (and some Jett mistakes) to start on a 5-0 run of open baskets. Michigan responded with a 6-point run with Dickinson and Tschetter playing high-low, but it was quickly evident that Michigan was playing at best even athletically with the unathletic Badgers.

Hunter Dickinson brought the full heel experience after comments on a podcast about Wisconsin's less-than-gentlemanly style of basketball. He also walked into the stadium wearing a ski mask, commenting they intended to "steal one." What he didn't bring was any rebounding. The Badgers, who barely ever contest the glass on the offensive end, were able to persistently hound Dickinson from behind. All told, Wisconsin collected 15 offensive boards off of their 42 misses (36 percent).

None was more devastating than their last. Michigan had used Wisconsin's long cold spell and an NBA-esque explosion of isolation pullups by Kobe Bufkin to claw back to within two with 44 seconds remaining. As he had all night, Wisconsin's Tyler Wahl missed a hook shot, with Dickinson in position to collect. But UW center Steven Crowl got his arms wrapped up inside just enough to hamper the collection, the ball caromed out to Connor Essegian, and Kobe Bufkin was whistled for a foul while trying to prevent the disaster.

Some of those rebounding follies led to some ludicrously long Wisconsin possessions. Shortly after the Under 12 timeout the Michigan defense managed to force UW into a long contested three with the clock running out. That shot popped up over Jace Howard and Wisconsin reset, but that extra possession led only to a trapped Tyler Wohl, who threw up a prayer versus a triple team that nobody was able to collect until it kneed back out to Wisconsin. Again Wisconsin drove, Tschetter drew contact and fell down trying to get the charge call, but with none coming Joey Baker had to foul. Two possessions later we hit the Under-8 timeout.

Michigan had plenty of opportunities to win even with the embarrassing performance on the glass. The Kenpom prediction of a one-point Michigan win held at the half after Kobe Bufkin hit a pullup three at the end of a clock rundown. Bufkin was by far Michigan's best player, at both ends, while Dickinson was barely better than Crowl, and other matchups, especially on defense, went decidedly for the home team.

Much of that was on the visitors' freshmen routinely getting lost on the Badgers' screens. Both Jett Howard and Dug McDaniel were peeled off after not reacting to Wisconsin's actions. An attempt to play Joey Baker, Will Tschetter, and Hunter Dickinson together exposed their combined athletic limitations. An attempt to go zone left open that same left corner that's been open all season.

One possession before *The One Hunter Really Needed to Come Down With* Michigan had a golden opportunity to tie as the Badgers overplayed Dickinson on the drive, leaving Tschetter all alone in the lane. But Cheddar couldn't get high enough to do more than collect the foul, then missed both free throws. If Juwan Howard's decision to ride with Tschetter over Tarris Reed in those situations was already under question, that sequence didn't help.

It also didn't help that Reed's offense, including his free throw shooting, was looking better than Tschetter's. Even accounting for his significantly larger size, Reed's defense was leagues better than his teammate's.

Matt from Endless Motor's tweet from above was inspired by a pair of post defense possessions while Bufkin's personal 7-0 run cut the lead to 49-55 and forced Wisconsin to use a timeout. Out of the timeout Reed forced a pullup miss, rebounded a Bufkin miss to draw Michigan's first shooting foul, and generated a steal on the other end.

Reed also made both of those attempts from the stripe, the first that Michigan attempted all game, with 6:41 left in the second half.

It must be said that the 12-point lead Wisconsin gave away was built on run of one-sided officiating that set a new low for an already notorious Trohl Center. Tschetter got tagged for one away from the ball two seconds before a shot that was somehow ruled a basket-and-one after review. Will had his own and-one opportunity wiped away earlier when a defender who ran under him on a putback of a Kobe Bufkin airball was ruled before the shot. This extraordinary run of calls and non-calls continued until Jett Howard was stepped under while going for a rebound and went down hard. His father was issued a technical for getting in an official's face, and the ensuing free throws pushed Wisconsin's lead to a dozen, with possession. I'm telling myself this was part of Juwan's punishment, and leaving it at that.

Later on they did give Hunter Dickinson a benefit of the doubt they probably shouldn't have when he got tangled up with Crawl and fell down, which resulted in Crawl's fourth foul just before the Under 4 timeout. Coming back Wisconsin got another multi-shot possession when McDaniel was too short to corral a short three-pointer. Dickinson finally started to get the better of Crawl, drawing two fouls (but making just 1/4 of those shots) in Michigan's next two offensive touches, followed by magnificent defensive possession that ended with a block and a shot clock violation. That set up the Tschetter bunny when Will missed his free throws, which was followed by *The One Hunter Really Needed To Come Down With.*

The Wolverines' final possessions after *TOHRNTCDW* were exemplary of the their struggles this year to close out close games. After Wisconsin cut off Michigan's planned action, Jett Howard drove into traffic, lost control, then managed to snatch the ball back and put in a floater. After UW's Max Klesmit made both free throws to push their lead back to four, Dug McDaniel had the ball poked away at the top of the circle by Hepburn.

Takeaways from this game are as dismal as Michigan's postseason outlook. They have flaws, but so does the Big Ten, and it's reasonable to expect this team to have won a good five or six more of those games than they have. Whether that's luck or some cosmic something or other can't be discerned from watching basketball, however, so that's where I leave you.

[There's a miserable box score after THE JUMP]