In a heartbreaking finish, the Wisconsin Badgers fell short once again in the Big Ten Tournament Championship, dropping a 59-53 game to the Michigan Wolverines as they couldn’t close out an ugly game.

It was a poor offensive showing from both sides, as Wisconsin shot just 21.6 percent on the day, while Michigan wasn’t much better at 32.2 percent in a game that came down to the final minutes.

Wisconsin held the lead for nearly the entire second half, but things started to turn when Michigan’s Tre Donaldson hit a clutch three with 1:54 left to put the Wolverines up 53-51. From there, Wisconsin couldn’t reclaim the lead, falling short and showing their fatigue in the final moments.

Now, the Badgers will await their fate on Selection Sunday, where they are hoping to land a No. 3 seed and land in the Milwaukee regional for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 59-53 loss to Michigan.

Fatigue

From the jump, it was clear that both teams, but especially the Badgers, were fatigued. After all, Wisconsin was playing its fourth game in four days and two of those were tough, physical battles.

The Badgers had an awful shooting half to begin, looking for a lot of threes and struggling to connect. Wisconsin shot just 8/37 (21.6 percent) from the field and 4/24 (16.7 percent) from three in the first half. And yet, they held a 23-21 lead going into the break.

The Badgers weren’t hunting driving lanes with the intent of going up at the rim often. And when they did, it was tough sledding, as Michigan’s towering duo of Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf were strong rim protectors, while officials weren’t calling fouls on either side in a physical game.

From deep, Wisconsin got a number of great wide-open looks early, but hit just two of their first seven threes. Then, shots just continued to not fall, as the Badgers continued to hunt from three, showing their fatigue.

John Tonje was scoreless in the period and never really looked for his shot, especially when driving, lacking that ‘killer’ instinct that propelled the Badgers to the championship in their win over Michigan State.

With that, it was going to be a John Blackwell game, and the Badgers guard consistently tried to attack, getting 11 points in the first half, but nothing came easy at the rim.

Defensively though, Wisconsin was getting stops and limited the second-chance opportunities that hurt them in the first matchup. Michigan shot just 9/32 (28.1 percent) from the field and 3/17 (17.6 percent) from deep in the first half, showing fatigue themselves, while missing a number of shots near the rim.

In the second half, Wisconsin had an early run, increasing their lead to 38-27, but it was ugly from there on out. The Badgers shot just 7/31 (22.6 percent) from the field in the final period and 3/15 from three, really struggling to get shots at the rim against Michigan State’s defense at the end.

Given the complexion of both teams, it was clearly going to be a battle, just like the first game was. And fatigue played a factor on both sides.

Rough day for Tonje

John Tonje was the talk of the town throughout the week, as he put together some strong performances that made him a clear frontrunner for the Big Ten Player of the Tournament.

But, he couldn’t get anything going on Sunday, missing his first nine shots. He finished with just nine points, shooting 1/14 from the field, including 0/5 from three on a forgettable afternoon for the Badgers star.

Fatigue seemed to play a factor here as well, but Tonje wasn’t his aggressive self early, not looking for his shot on drives to the basket as Michigan did a good job making things difficult for the Badgers star.

Still, Tonje wasn’t able to connect on a few open shots, and the Badgers needed them on a rough offensive day.

John Blackwell was the heartbeat of the offense early, attacking consistently and getting 11 points in the first half. But, Wisconsin really needed Tonje in the second half, and he shot just 1/10 in the period, with most of his points coming at the free throw line.

Tonje was able to have some life late when the Badgers and Wolverines traded points, but he couldn’t get a turnaround jumper to go with 33 seconds left that could’ve tied the game.

Wisconsin as an offense really struggled, which placed an even bigger emphasis on the Badgers star guard. And, in an uncharacteristic performance, Tonje couldn’t deliver Wisconsin the victory on Sunday.

History repeats itself

Entering Sunday, it was all about the revenge tour for the Badgers, who looked to add a little more motivation to seal the deal and win the Big Ten Championship against Michigan.

Wisconsin had a strong week leading up to Sunday. They first got past Northwestern in a struggle of a game. That set up a battle with UCLA, who bested the Badgers back in January at the Pauley Pavillion in an 85-83 game.

Needing a win to get back into the No. 3 seed conversation for the NCAA Tournament, Wisconsin avenged their loss in a big way, shooting the lights out of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse with 19 threes in an 86-70 blowout win that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.

Then came the biggest battle of them all: a rematch with No. 1 seed Michigan State. The Spartans got the Badgers in a 71-62 game two weeks ago, as Wisconsin shot a forgettable 5/32 from deep in their worst offensive game of the year. Determined to rewrite the narrative, Wisconsin pulled out a gritty 77-74 victory that went down to the final buzzer, showing they could close out big games and continue their revenge tour.

That set up a championship game against either the Maryland Terrapins or the Michigan Wolverines, which meant it was going to be a revenge game regardless. Wisconsin lost to Maryland on the road in late January and they suffered their first loss of the year to Michigan way back in December.

With the Wolverines win on Saturday, that set up a big clash on Sunday, and the Badgers just didn’t have enough. They ultimately shot 15/69 (21.7 percent) from the field and a putrid 7/40 (17.5 percent) from deep, giving away the lead in the final minutes.

Last year, the Badgers had a very similar path: a late slide in February, three huge wins in the Big Ten Tournament including ones over Northwestern and the No. 1 seed, as well as one with great shooting. The final piece of the story was the Big Ten Championship, where Wisconsin fell short last year in a battle with Illinois. Well, history repeated itself once again, as the Badgers fell to Michigan, struggling to finish out a game for the first time this week.

Now, Wisconsin cannot let history repeat itself in one other area: their start in the NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin hasn’t made it out of the first weekend since 2017. They fell flat in the first round last year to James Madison, putting a cap on an otherwise strong season.

This year, the Badgers arguably have their best team since the 2015 group that made it all the way to the National Championship. Can they change course and get to the Sweet Sixteen, at least? We’ll see when they play next weekend.