BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Mike Lucas had a front-row seat for Wisconsin's 64-58 loss to Michigan on the road. Here is what he saw from courtside.
BAPTISM UNDER FIRE
Minutes after the UW's 64-58 defeat at Michigan, D'Mitrik Trice was asked what he would take away from his first collegiate start and the freshman guard didn't hesitate to say, "We lost. That's the first thing that comes to mind. Obviously, I wish we could have come out of here with the W, especially it being a special day for me and my family. But at the end of the day we came out with a loss."
Trice was elevated to the starting lineup against the Wolverines because of a leg injury to senior Bronson Koenig, who had started 84 consecutive games at point guard, dating to January of 2015, when Koenig, then a sophomore, came off the bench to replace injured senior Traevon Jackson. Koenig has not practiced since last Sunday's loss to Northwestern in which he was limited to two points (1-of-8).
"I thought he started off really strong," UW senior guard Zak Showalter said of Trice, who had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and only 2 turnovers. "And I thought towards the end of playing 35 minutes, full point guard minutes, it was tough for him. But this will be a good game, experience-wise, to build upon. I saw flashes from him on the road in a hostile environment."
Predictably, Trice was unhappy with his shooting: 2-of-15 from the field (1-of-6 from the arc). On the offensive end, he didn't have the easiest matchup in Michigan's senior Derrick Walton who has started 114 of 115 games. "I tried to stay aggressive," said Trice, an Ohio native, who had family and friends in attendance at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. "But my shots were just not falling."
UW coach Greg Gard was encouraged by what he got from Trice, the younger brother of former Michigan State guard Travis Trice who used to bedevil the Wolverines. "I thought he handled it well," said Gard. "Obviously, he didn't shoot it well; he put himself in some tough positions. But for a freshman to come in here and have four assists and only two turnovers, I thought he was very composed."
A NOTE WORTH QUOTING
Sophomore "point big" Ethan Happ had a hand in 27 of Wisconsin's 31 points at halftime. He had 18 points (8-of-9 FGs) and four assists. The only four points that he didn't influence belonged to Nigel Hayes, who had an unassisted basket and Khalil Iverson who scored on an assist from Trice. Michigan coach John Beilein is not known for doubling the post. But after Happ carved up his defense, Beilein resorted to some different tactics in the second half and it paid off. The Wolverines often attacked Happ with a second defender and held him to four points (2-of-4 FGs).
DID YOU NOTICE?
- Iverson, who didn't take a shot in 16 minutes of action against Northwestern, had 10 points (5-of-7). It's his first Big Ten game in double-digits and his most points since Marquette (Dec. 10) when he had 16.
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- The Badgers scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 38-30 lead: a run triggered by Trice, who slid in-between D.J. Wilson and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman for a steal and run-out.
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- Walton, who had been the hottest scorer in the Big Ten over the last five games (averaging 23 points), managed just five points (1-of-8) due in large part to the defensive tenacity of Showalter.
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- Alex Illikainen, who had not gotten on the floor in the last five games (since Penn State on Jan. 24), played two minutes each half. He missed his only two shot attempts and had one rebound.
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- Jordan Hill saved two points in the first half when he chased down Michigan's Xavier Simpson who appeared to have a clean breakaway and lay-up. Hill blocked his shot; his first block this season.
A QUOTE WORTH NOTING
Although the Badgers were without their third-leading scorer (Koenig had a team-high 16 points in the earlier win over Michigan in Madison) and shot less than 40 percent for the fifth time in the last five games, Showalter said, "I thought we had it rolling for stretches when we would get steals and momentum in our favor. They hit a lot of big shots that kind of deflated us. But we moved the ball better, even without Bronson, we just didn't score around the rim and that led to some transition buckets for them which are killers. We just need to keep improving."
THE SKINNY ON MARYLAND
Many Big Ten pundits picked the Terps for the second division because of who they DIDN'T HAVE. Gone were Diamond Stone, Robert Carter, Jake Laymon and Rasheed Sulaimon. What they didn't account for was the play of the freshmen: Justin Jackson, Anthony Cowan and Kevin Huerter.
"Their freshmen are really good and they play well together," said UW associate head coach Lamont Paris, who put together the scouting report on Maryland. "They share the ball and look for each other, maybe even more so than last season which was a really, really talented team."
The fixture is Melo Trimble who had 32 points Wednesday at Northwestern.
"Extremely confident and in control — that's how I would describe his game," Paris said. "He puts tremendous pressure on the defense with his ability to shoot from the perimeter or by attacking the rim and drawing fouls. He's also really good at drawing two guys and finding an open man."
In all games, Trimble is the fourth-leading scorer in the conference with a 17.2 average. He's shooting 44 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point line. Trimble is averaging almost six free throws per game (120-of-145, .828) and Cowan is not far behind (108-of-143, .755).
A year ago, Maryland beat the Badgers, 63-60, at the Kohl Center on Trimble's triple from just outside the Nitty Gritty with only 1.2 seconds left. At College Park, the Badgers stunned the Terps, 70-57. Take solace young man (Trice). Trimble was 1-of-14 from the field in that loss.
GARDO SEZ
"We can defend terrifically, but you've got to put the ball in the basket. And we weren't able to do it at a consistent enough rate tonight, which is something this group has struggled with all year … We have to be able to finish when we're point-blank and have the ball right at the rim."
