updated: Wisconsin shoots Michigan basketball out of Crisler Arena, 62-44

Offensively, Michigan's two best shooters, sophomore guards Zack Novak and Stu Douglass, combined to shoot 0-for-5 from the field. Junior Manny Harris was 4 of 11 shooting and senior forward DeShawn Sims scored only three of his 18 points after halftime.

Even when the Wolverines played well, it didn’t matter. They shot 60 percent in the first half and still trailed by 14 at halftime.

On defense, Michigan (11-12 overall, 4-7 Big Ten) forced four shot clock violations, yet  Wisconsin shot 68.2 percent from the field in the first half and 69.2 percent from the three-point line.

(Complete box score here).

Midway through the first half, with Michigan going through an all-too-familiar scoring drought, Wisconsin (18-5, 8-3) trotted through a 14-0 run that gave the Badgers a 29-14 lead. From there, the game was pretty much over.

“It’s just frustrating, period, with them making all these shots,” Harris said. “And us not being able to make shots and not playing Michigan basketball, that’s frustrating.”

The 2010 version of Michigan basketball is exactly what people saw Saturday - a team looking a bit too slow, a bit too short and a bit too undermanned for Big Ten opponents.

It’s why the Wolverines dropped to under .500 for the first time this season.

Michigan's DeShawn Sims tries to power his way under the hoop against Wisconsin's Rob Wilson during second half action of Saturday afternoon.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

No one hurt Michigan more Saturday than Wisconsin senior guard Jason Bohannon.
The Iowan made multiple three-pointers with the shot clock dwindling toward zero, and then another in the final seconds of the first half.

Sims scored with two seconds left in the first half. Then Bohannon had the ball at midcourt, took two more dribbles in and let the ball fly parallel with the edge of the large block ‘M’ at midcourt in Crisler Arena with less than a second left 40 feet from the basket.

The buzzer sounded.

Bohannon’s shot fell, giving Wisconsin a 40-26 lead.

“It was tough,” Beilein said. “I told the team at halftime let that be the best thing that can happen to you right now because they can’t keep doing that.”

They didn’t - but the Badgers came close.

They shot 53.7 percent for the game and 52.4 percent from the three-point line. They passed with efficiency, and on the occasions they missed shots, they grabbed eight offensive rebounds.

Michigan, meanwhile, folded. The Wolverines missed all nine of their three-pointers in the second half. They had one rebound in the first seven minutes of the second half.

The implosion - the second time in as many games Michigan has been blown out by a team that is deliberate, cutting and rarely blows out anyone - left Beilein frustrated and searching for answers.

“It’s not only a matter of confidence,” Beilein said. “That’s not the only issue here. We’ve got to get longer and stronger and have to shoot it better and get more steals. We have a lot of things we’ve got to do.

“I don’t think it’s confidence as much as we’ve got to get better.”

How, though, is the big question. Michigan has seven games left until the Big Ten Tournament and haven’t showed significant progress since a home loss to Michigan State on Jan. 26. Since then, in some ways, the Wolverines looked like they have regressed.

His team’s mental state isn’t much better.

“It’s not good right now,” Beilein said. “They are young kids that are just really struggling to find success right now. That’s my job as a coach to try and help them get there.

“It’s the story of our season, try to get rid of a tough loss and move to the next game.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.