It would be easy to question how Wisconsin could shoot 52 percent, have three double-digit scorers and grab 11 steals yet beat a five-win team by just three points.
But when you consider that the Michigan Wolverines (1-6 Big Ten, 5-14 overall) out-rebounded the Badgers by 11 and got 26 points from freshman guard Manny Harris, it starts to make sense why UW (6-0, 16-2) only won 64-61 Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
We just got to do a better job as a team,"" junior forward Marcus Landry, who had two rebounds but zero on the defensive end, said. ""It should never come down to us being out-rebounded by 11. Especially with them having a total of 20 offensive rebounds - it's just ridiculous on our part ... We should be very surprised that we won this game with the way we rebounded.""
Michigan kept it close with 22 second-chance points and 16 points off 11 UW turnovers. Coming off a 68-60 home loss to Iowa, it was somewhat surprising to see the Wolverines play with such energy in a tough road environment, but head coach John Beilein said it was an emphasis after looking at the tape from Saturday's loss.
""You can create energy just by making that extra play,"" Beilein said.
Maybe it was a response from their flat play against Iowa, but it was a huge turnaround from when these two teams met in Ann Arbor Jan. 2, when the Badgers out-rebounded the Wolverines by 10. Still, UW head coach Bo Ryan did not seem all that surprised by Michigan's 35-25 advantage on the boards.
""They are bouncier than us and longer than us,"" he said. ""They win the short sleeve contest. We're not going to win that one with Michigan. We need to do a better job putting bodies on people.""
Even with the big rebounding margin, it's hard to believe that Michigan would have been in the game without the play of Harris. The freshman's 26 points came on 11-of-19 shooting in 38 minutes.
""That was pretty good,"" Ryan said. ""He was hitting the mid-range and the outside shot. If he does that in the next game, that's up to the other team to figure that out now.""
At times Harris looked like the best player on the court and he did it on national television against senior guard Michael Flowers, arguably the best defender in the Big Ten. According to Beilein, he was playing with a foot injury.
""I tell him all the time, because I know how hard as a coach our team has to work to ever be on national TV,"" Beilein said. ""These are moments. That's not why we play, but come on, Manny was great in the locker room and he brought it right out on the floor.""
Still, Ryan was quick to defend his senior guard's defensive play.
""Defensively you might say boy, Michael really struggled but no, Michael did some really good things. He had three steals. He had some deflections. But they hit some tough shots,"" Ryan said.
In addition to the three steals, Flowers had a solid game with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Badgers will now hit the road for three of the next four games, starting at Purdue Saturday.
