The Michigan Wolverines enter Friday's Big Ten Tournament matchup with Wisconsin after an emphatic win over Penn State and the team will be looking for revenge as they battle at the United Center in Chicago.
The Wolverines easily dispatched Penn State 83-66 in a rout and will now try to overcome the tough 65-62 loss to the Badgers back in February. The 22nd-ranked Badgers have won 12 of the past 13 games against Michigan and the sixth-ranked Wolverines will be ready in the quarterfinals, as they hope to advance to their first final four of the college postseason.
The game back in February in Madison went to overtime after Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a 3-pointer to put the Wolverines up 60-57, but it was short-lived, as Mike Bruesewitz hit a half-court shot to send the game into overtime, where Wisconsin was able to hang on for a victory.
"It was a tough loss," Hardaway said. "We just have to make sure that we watch the film, see the things that we did wrong during the game, and just try not to make the same mistakes again. So we just got to go out there and just play ball and just stick to the game plan."
This will be the second time the two teams play and 21-10 Wisconsin is looking for a strong showing at the tournament to help with seeding for March Madness. The Wolverines are seeded lower than the Badgers after dropping games to Indiana and Penn State over the past few weeks. The Wolverines were out for revenge against the Nittany Lions after losing 84-78 at the end of February.
Trey Burke is leading Michigan with nearly 20 points per game and the team ranks 22nd in scoring and eighth in field goal percentage. The Badgers are a more defensive oriented team after ranking 208th in points, but they are physical and ranked 70th in the nation in assists.
Wisconsin previously beat Michigan in the Big Ten conference finals a few years ago and will be looking to do it once again.
"One thing that you can expect is the same old winning, don't-beat-yourself style that we have seen over and over again," head coach John Beilein said. "They're not going to beat themselves. They're not going to turn it over. (We must) be very patient with our defense and solid with our defense, make them score over us without giving them second opportunities.
Badgers coach Bo Ryan won the Big Ten's coach of the year award after leading the team to a 12-6 record in the conference, topping Michigan in the seeding after their head-to-head win. The Badgers are behind Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan State in the conference standings.
Wisconsin finished off their regular-season in style, as they held on for a 63-60 win against Penn State last Sunday after Traevon Jackson hit a 3-pointer at the end to win it. The three points added to his 15 total and gave the Badgers some much-needed momentum.
"That will hopefully be a momentum-shifter for us going into the Big Ten tournament," Sam Dekker said.
The Big Ten was one of the best conferences this year and with No. 3 Indiana, Michigan, No. 8 Michigan State and No. 10 Ohio State, the conference has a number of teams ranked in the top 25 and they could do damage in the NCAA Tournament.
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"This could be a year where you have eight or nine (Big Ten teams make the NCAA tournament)," Beilein said. " I sincerely think (the conference is) worthy of nine bids, depending upon how this all plays out."
The winner of the matchup will play against the winner of Indiana-Illinois, with the game most likely coming against the favored Hoosiers. The final four of the tournament will go down on Saturday.
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