Unlike their football counterparts on campus last fall, this has been nothing short of a tumultuous season for the Michigan basketball team.
Entering Wednesday’s game against No. 11 Wisconsin, the Wolverines owned the worst winning percentage (.467 at 7-8) among all Power 6 conference teams when leading at halftime and ranked dead last in the Big Ten with a minus-95 second-half point differential.
Michigan had lost five straight and 10 of 11, but was able to flip the script against the Badgers with a 72-68 win on Juwan Howard’s 51st birthday. It was just the second win for the Wolverines since mid-December.
It also marks the first time since a double overtime loss to Florida on Dec. 19 they weren’t outscored in the second half, though the Wolverines and Badgers finished all-square in the second half.
Things were once again trending in the wrong direction early in the second half as the Badgers opened on a 15-7 run to lead by four with under 14 minutes to play.
But Michigan answered with a 19-6 run of its own to take control and was able to hold off a late charge from the Badgers, who have now lost three straight for the first time all season after climbing as high as No. 6 in the AP Top 25 Poll.
Despite a long scoring drought that stretched from midway through the first half until the game’s final minutes, Dug McDaniel led the Wolverines with 16 points. He scored Michigan’s final five points in the last minute-plus, including a pair of free throws that iced the game with nine seconds.
AJ Storr led the Badgers with 20 points, while Chucky Hepburn had 17.
Howard's birthday win comes a week after rival Michigan State tore apart the Wolverines on Tom Izzo's 69th birthday for his 700th career win.
While the Wolverines will be pleased to get back in the win column, Michigan still sits in last place in the Big Ten at 3-9 and 8-15 overall, looking destined to miss the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season for the first time since the John Beilein era began in the 2007-08 season.
On Saturday night Michigan heads to the Plains to take on an upstart Nebraska team, in search of back-to-back wins for the first time since beating Iowa and Eastern Michigan before Christmas.
The Badgers, meanwhile, remains in third place and will look to halt their skid Saturday at Rutgers.