Wolverines to Host Wisconsin in Battle for Big Ten Lead

» No. 7 Michigan will host No. 19 Wisconsin in a battle for the Big Ten lead at a sold out Crisler Center.
» Earlier this season, Wisconsin snapped U-M's 17-game win streak with a 64-54 victory at the Kohl Center.
» Saturday's game is the 12th straight sellout at Crisler Center this season.
» The Badgers rank third nationally in fewest turnovers per game, committing 214, two fewer than the Wolverines' 216.
» Since recording the sixth triple-double in U-M history against Ohio State, Zavier Simpson has averaged 11.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists in his last three games.

THIS WEEK
Saturday, Feb. 9 -- vs. #19 Wisconsin (Crisler Center), noon

• Watch: Coach Beilein Media Roundtable - Wisconsin

The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (21-2, 10-2 Big Ten) will close out the week hosting No. 19 Wisconsin (17-6, 9-3 Big Ten) -- its fifth ranked opponent of the season -- in Ann Arbor on Saturday (Feb. 9). In a FOX broadcast, tipoff is scheduled for 12:01 p.m. with Gus Johnson and Jimmy Jackson on the call.

A Little Bit About Wisconsin

• Wisconsin stands at 17-6 overall and 9-3 in Big Ten play. Since defeating U-M on Jan. 19, the Badgers have won six straight games including road wins at Illinois, at Nebraska and, most recently, at Minnesota.
• Redshirt senior forward Ethan Happ averages a double-double for the Badgers with 18.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He is shooting 55.2 percent from the field and leads the team with 117 assists (5.1 apg).
• Redshirt sophomore guard D'Mitrik Trice is second on the Badgers with 13.4 points per game as he leads the team with 59 3-pointers -- 2.5 per game. He adds 2.6 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Brad Davison gives Wisconsin three double-digit scorers with his 11.2 points per game. He leads the Badgers with 27 steals and is second with 40 3-pointers.
• Wisconsin leads the Big Ten in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 39.7 percent as a team. Trice leads the Badgers individually at 44.7 percent, third-best in the conference, while Davison is sixth at 43.0 percent.
• The Badgers rank third nationally in fewest turnovers per game, committing just 9.3 (214) per contest, which is two less than the Wolverines 9.3 (216) per game.
• Greg Gard is in his fourth season as head coach at Wisconsin after taking over during the 2015-16 campaign. Gard led the Badgers to the Sweet 16 in both 2016 and 2017.

The All-Time Series with The Badgers

• Saturday's game will be the 167th all-time meeting in the series.
• The Wolverines lead the all-time series, 94-72, but there are three games in the early 80s in which Wisconsin had to forfeit due to playing an ineligible player.
• Saturday's matchup will be the second meeting of the Big Ten regular season. Wisconsin defeated U-M, 64-54, on Jan. 19 in Madison to snap U-M's school record-tying 17-game win streak.
• U-M holds a 57-22 record in games played against Wisconsin in Ann Arbor, but the Wolverines only have won two of the last four meetings and three of the last 10 at Crisler Center.
• There have been seven overtime games in this series, with U-M holding the edge, 4-3. The last time there was overtime was a 69-64 U-M loss at Crisler Center on Jan. 24, 2015.
• There have been 30 games decided by three points or fewer with U-M leading, 16-14. The last time a game was decided by fewer than three points was Feb. 9, 2013. With the Wolverines up three with 2.4 seconds left, Wisconsin's Ben Burst made a half-court shot tie send the game to overtime. The Badgers would go on to stun the Wolverines, 65-62.
• U-M head coach John Beilein is 5-17 in his career against Wisconsin.

Earlier This Season: Badgers Snap U-M's Winning Streak

• Michigan suffered its first loss of the 2018-19 season, falling, 64-54, to Wisconsin at the Kohl Center on Jan. 19. The Wolverines had won 17 straight games tying the program record for best start in school history.
• In a back-and-forth affair, neither team was able to gain a significant lead until the final three minutes when the Badgers pulled away and secured the 10-point victory.
• Zavier Simpson led U-M, notching his second career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while dishing out six helpers.
• Jon Teske led the Wolverines with 15 points on the afternoon and added seven rebounds and four blocks. Also notching double-digit scoring for U-M was Jordan Poole, who added 14 points.

How About This to Start Off the Notes?

• Since recording the sixth triple-double in U-M history, Zavier Simpson has nearly made it three straight games with a triple-dip -- averaging 11.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists.
- Ohio State (Jan. 29): 11 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists (U-M's sixth triple-double)
- at Iowa (Feb. 1): 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists
- at Rutgers (Feb. 5): 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists
• Jon Teske is the first Wolverine to record 50 blocks since D.J. Wilson (Milwaukee Bucks) had 57 in 2016-17. The Big Ten leader with 2.2 per game, if Teske reaches above 57, it would be the most for a Wolverine in 11 seasons (Ekpe Udoh, 92, 2007-08).
• Over his last five games, Ignas Brazdeikis has shot nearly 50 percent from long range -- going 13-for-28 (46.4 percent). He leads U-M with 20 double-digit scoring games, seven 20-plus point games and 15.5 points per game.
• U-M's free-throw leader at 81.5 percent, Jordan Poole has gone 7-for-7 from the charity stripe over the last three games.

Wolverines Closing in On Cool Notes

• Already the all-time winningest coach at U-M with 269 wins, Beilein became U-M's all-time Big Ten leader with 121 wins after defeating Rutgers (Feb. 5). Beilein is historically one of 21 Big Ten coaches to win 100-or-more in a career.
• Zavier Simpson has not missed a game in three seasons -- a streak of 102 straight.
• Charles Matthews and Jon Teske have not missed a game in two seasons -- a streak of 64 straight.
• Simpson (325) needs 30 assists to move into 13th place on U-M's all-time list (Jimmy King - 354).
• Simpson (106) became the 23rd Wolverine to reach 100 steals in a career. He needs 29 more to reach the top 10 all-time at U-M -- Thad Garner (1979-82) and Dion Harris (2004-07) are tied for 10th at 135.
• Matthews (819) needs 181 more points to become the 55th Wolverine to score 1,000 career points.
• Jordan Poole (91) needs nine more 3-pointers to become the 27th Wolverine to make 100-plus in a career.
• Averaging a Big Ten-best 2.2 blocks per game, Jon Teske (50) needs 10 more to become the first Wolverine to reach 60 in a season since Ekpe Udoh had 92 (2007-08).
• Michigan has made 182 three-pointers this season. The Wolverines need 18 more to make 200-plus in all 12 of John Beilein's seasons at U-M.