Top Plays: Michigan vs. Wisconsin (Part Two)

It was an afternoon of vengeance and renaissance for Michigan basketball.

The Wolverines enacted revenge over Wisconsin for their first loss three weeks ago. While Ethan Happ seized the first matchup, Jon Teske held the Badger star to his worst game of the year.

Meanwhile, Charles Matthews woke up to produce his best performance since the first Indiana game.

Teske and Matthews headline the Top Plays from the 61-52 victory.

Jon Teske pick-and-roll gives Michigan first lead

Wisconsin came into Ann Arbor with three straight wins over top-10 Michigan teams. The Badgers threatened to go for a fourth, jumping out to a 13-5 lead after a D’Mitrick Trice triple.

A pair of threes by Jordan Poole and Isaiah Livers kept matters close, but the Wolverines really started gelling after targeting Happ on the pick-and-roll.

First, Eli Brooks found a driving Teske after Happ overcommitted to shutting off the three-point line. Zavier Simpson then found room in the middle to drain yet another three o’clock hook.

Happ adjusted and sat under the basket. Simpson took advantage by driving into the key and finding Teske with momentum heading towards the bucket. It gave the Wolverines their first lead of the day.

Happ fouls, Teske strikes

Happ tallied 14 of his 18 points in the first half, as Luke Yaklich had Teske guard him one-on-one to allow the rest of the defense to run shooters off the arc.

With the Badgers scoring only .87 points per possession even with him, Michigan could take advantage if he got into foul trouble. After a charging call with two minutes left, the opportunity opened.

Teske struck immediately.

Simpson and Teske connected on the pick-and-pop after catching Reuvers napping inside. It was the 7-footer’s first triple in three games, boosting him to 31 percent (13-of-42) on the season.

On the next possession, he swatted a shot to spark a Poole transition bucket to take a 27-25 lead. He would finish with a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double, as well as three blocks.

Charles Matthews dominates second half

In Matthews’ four games before the first Wisconsin game, he averaged 14.7 points. He was only able to muster five points in the upset at Madison, which set off a bit of a slump.

He sputtered to 8.6 points a contest and only made 8-of-26 shots (30 percent) over the next five games.

He used the second half Saturday to announce his resurgence to the rest of the conference.

He racked up 16 of his 18 points on a variety of moves, including:

• A catch-and-shoot jumper from midrange
• A spinning postup on Wisconsin’s Brevin Pretzil
• A postup fadeaway on Kobe King
• A ridiculous finish over Pretzil and Reuvers
• Torching Khalil Iverson on a drive for a dunk
• A stepback fadeaway to ice the game at 57-50

Jordan Poole never forgets

Here’s a picture of Reuvers applying the icing on the cake in Wisconsin’s 64-54 upset three weeks ago.

That dunk came with 10 seconds left with the Badgers leading 60-54. Few Michigan fans batted an eye. Jordan Poole didn’t let the unnecessary dunk go.

With the Wolverines leading by seven with eight seconds left, he pushed the ball down the court after a miss, and lofted an alley-oop to Isaiah Livers for the final margin.

In fact, Poole spent much of Saturday in Crisler Center trolling the visitors. After Happ’s third foul, he said some choice words in the center’s ear.

The taunts and the slam formed the proverbial “GTFO my court!” (trademark Darius Morris vs. MSU 2011).