Michigan comeback 

falls short in 

overtime vs. sixth-

ranked Badgers

By JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

On the first possession of the game 

Saturday, the Michigan men’s basket-
ball team forced the shot clock all the 
way down, hoping No. 6 Wisconsin 
would force up a tough shot. Instead, 
point guard Bronson Koenig beat 
sophomore guard Derrick Walton 
Jr. to the rim for an easy layup at the 
buzzer.

That theme persisted for most 

of the evening: No matter what 
the Wolverines tried, it seemed 
they could never make Wisconsin 
uncomfortable for long enough to 
seize control.

Two hours later, the Badgers felt 

uncomfortable — headed to over-
time, on the road, on a Saturday 
night, in front of a sellout crowd — 
and it was none other than Walton 
who did it.

With 1.3 seconds left, after Michi-

gan (5-3 Big Ten, 12-8 overall) had 
fought back from three different sig-
nificant deficits, Walton drained a 
3-pointer from the left wing to tie the 
game and send it to overtime.

But when play resumed, Wis-

consin (6-1, 18-2) quickly gave the 
Wolverines had another deficit to 
overcome. And this one was too 
much.

“I don’t think we’re at a stage 

where, unless we’re on fire and hit-
ting every shot, … that we can expect 
to be ahead a lot in games,” said 
Michigan coach John Beilein. “We’re 
going to have to come from behind 
and just stay solid.”

Frank 
Kaminsky 
opened 
the 

extra possession with a three-point 
play after a blocking foul on Michi-
gan freshman forward Ricky Doyle, 
and Wisconsin’s Josh Gasser added 
a 3-pointer on the next possession. 
Kaminsky’s basket put the Badgers 
ahead for good, and he finished with 
22 points and nine rebounds.

“Let’s face it: He’s one of the best 

players in the country,” Ryan said. 
“I don’t say that very often. … Frank 
means a lot to this team.”

The Wolverines fought back to 

within four with two minutes left, 
but gave up an offensive rebound 
before getting the ball back on a 
charge with under a minute to go.

Then, Michigan looked to Walton 

again, but the Badgers denied him 
and iced the game at the line to hold 
on for a 69-64 victory at Crisler Cen-
ter.

“We knew going into this game 

that it was going to be a dogfight, 
that it wasn’t going to be easy,” said 
sophomore forward Zak Irvin. “We 
wanted to go get this one, especially 
in front of the great atmosphere we 
had today. We thought we executed 
the game plan really well when we 
took them to overtime.”

Down by four with under two 

minutes left, Walton and Irvin each 
missed 3-pointers, extending the 
team’s late scoring drought to two 
minutes. Gasser also missed with a 
minute to go, and Michigan again 
had a chance to draw within one pos-
session.

Koenig split a pair of free throws 

with 20.4 seconds on the clock, giv-
ing Michigan another chance down 
three. Walton calmly sank two foul 
shots to draw the Wolverines within 
one and set up his late triple.

For a time, it looked as though 

BSportsMonday

TREADING LIGHTLY

n The Michigan hockey team is 
on a record-setting offensive pace. 
So why haven’t the Wolverines 
secured a postseason bid? Page 4B

EXAM WEEK

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 26, 2015

n Test your knowledge 
of Michigan athletics with 
Greg Garno’s SportsMonday 
Column. Page 2B

J

ohn Beilein started 
his morning in Crisler 
Center’s north tunnel, 

telling 
Austin Hatch 
that he was 
“going to do 
just fine.”

As the pair 

was prepped 
to appear live 
on ESPN’s 
College 
Gameday, 
the 1,000 or 
so Michigan 
students who spent their 
Saturday morning representing 
their school on television 
chanted Hatch’s name.

As ESPN previewed a feature 

about the freshman guard’s 

life story on the video board, 
its subject sat beneath. As the 
film rolled, showing the two 
plane crashes that took the lives 
of Hatch’s mother, siblings, 
father and stepmother, Beilein 
wiped away tears. He placed a 
reassuring hand on Hatch’s leg 
as GameDay continued through 
audio of 911 calls and images of 
mangled propeller planes.

The guests and hosts talked 

about Hatch’s recovery and 
what it meant for him to play 
for Michigan. The video board 
played the highlight of Hatch’s 
first point at Crisler Center, 
a free throw in an exhibition 
game against Wayne State on 
Nov. 10.

Then ESPN’s Jay Williams 

DEFLATED

See MICHIGAN, Page 3B

The best of 
both Beileins

LEV
FACHER

See BEILEIN, Page 2B

RUBY WALLAU/Daily
JAMES COLLER/Daily

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily