Loss No. 1 for No. 2: Wisconsin nets the upset as Michigan goes cold late

James Hawkins, The Detroit News on Jan 10, 2026

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — And then there were five.

Michigan entered play Saturday as one of the six remaining undefeated teams in college basketball. Wisconsin changed that.

The Badgers knocked the second-ranked Wolverines from the unbeaten ranks by rallying from a 14-point deficit and using a hot-shooting second half to prevail, 91-88, at Crisler Center.

Elliot Cadeau scored 19 points, all coming after halftime, and Morez Johnson Jr. had 18 points for Michigan (14-1, 4-1 Big Ten), which shot 46.8% from the field but missed eight of its last nine shots over the final four minutes.

A poor finish to the first half by Michigan and a blazing shooting start to the second half by Wisconsin saw the Badgers wipe out a 14-point deficit and take the lead.

Wisconsin made its first nine shots out of the break, including seven 3-pointers. A deep ball by Nolan Winter gave Wisconsin its first lead, 43-40, less than a minute in the second half. Alex Bieliauskas canned three 3-pointers in the span of 90 seconds.

By the time Nick Boyd capped Wisconsin’s scorching stretch with a 3-pointer, Michigan found itself trailing, 59-53, with 15:40 to play.

The Wolverines countered by making eight of their first nine shots of the half as a shootout broke out. Cadeau, after a scoreless first half, had the hot hand and scored 17 points in seven minutes. Following a turnover by Wisconsin, Cadeau buried a 3-pointer to tie it at 65 at the 13:17 mark.

Stops, though, were hard to come by on either side as the Badgers and Wolverines went back and forth. John Blackwell hit Wisconsin’s ninth 3 of the half to regain a three-point edge. A bucket in the paint by Yaxel Lendeborg during a string of six unanswered points put Michigan back in front, 73-70, with 9:36 to go.

What followed was a seesaw stretch. Wisconsin took a two-point lead five times. Michigan answered and knotted it back up each time before Roddy Gayle Jr. hit a corner 3 to give the Wolverines an 84-83 lead with 4:10 remaining.

Michigan couldn’t make it hold and was the first to blink. Blackwell immediately responded with a driving layup. Then after the Wolverines came up empty, the Badgers cashed in an offensive rebound with a second-chance 3-pointer by Andrew Rohde to take an 88-84 lead at the 2:57 mark.

That set the stage for a tense finish. Wisconsin missed the front end of a 1-and-1 twice. Gayle scored on a layup to make it a one-possession game, 88-86, with 1:11 to go. Michigan got a stop but a put-back dunk by Aday Mara was waved off for basket interference.

On Wisconsin’s next possession, Cadeau was whistled for a foul going up to contest a pass down court for Braeden Carrington, who made two free throws to make it a four-point game. Lendeborg was fouled on a rebound and made two foul shots to make it 90-88 with 15 seconds left.

Carrington left the door open for Michigan by splitting two free throws to make it 91-88 with nine ticks remaining. But the Wolverines came up empty on their last possession, as Gayle missed a contested 3-pointer and Johnson’s offensive put-back was off the mark.

Lendeborg finished with 14 points and Nimari Burnett scored 10 for Michigan.

Blackwell scored 26 and Bieliauskas 17 for Wisconsin (11-5, 3-2), which shot 63% from the field in the second half and finished 15 for 33 from 3-point range. Boyd, who played for Michigan coach Dusty May at Florida Atlantic, finished with 22 points.

After escaping with a narrow win at Penn State on Tuesday, Michigan got off to a promising start by scoring on six of its first seven possessions against Wisconsin.

Mara threw down a two-handed jam off a pick-and-roll feed from Lendeborg on the first play. Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound that led to a second-chance 3-pointer and muscled his way to the rim for a dunk. Lendeborg missed a shot inside but stole the ball right back for an and-1 bucket. Michigan jumped out to a 13-6 lead.

A quick burst widened the margin to double digits. Trey McKenney and Lendeborg drained back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 21-10 and forced a Wisconsin timeout with 12:47 left in the first half.

The Wolverines added more separation during a five-minute stretch where they held the Badgers to one basket. Johnson scored twice in the paint. Lendeborg stole a pass out on the perimeter, was fouled in transition and made two free throws. A 10-2 spurt gave Michigan a 31-17 lead at the 7:38 mark.

But just when it looked like the Wolverines were pulling away, the Badgers clawed back behind Blackwell, who dropped 16 points in the first half. He went on a 7-0 personal run that featured back-to-back 3-pointers and kick-started a 20-7 surge to close the half.

A combination of key players in foul trouble, several careless turnovers and a sputtering offense that went scoreless over the final 3:53 led to a perfect storm that saw Michigan’s lead dwindle to 38-37 at the break.