ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan's Hunter Dickinson appeared to step on the University of Wisconsin's Tyler Wahl during the first half Sunday.
He put another big foot down on the Badgers as time expired in regulation, hitting a desperation 3-pointer to force overtime.
The Wolverines won 87-79 after the extra session at the Crisler Center, ripping a victory away from a Badgers men's basketball team that was seconds away from their first time winning consecutive games in 2023.
Dickinson's heave from long distance came after UW appeared to have an inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds left defended well. But Dickinson, often a thorn in UW's side both on and off the court, made a clutch shot.
The Badgers led 75-73 in overtime after Max Klesmit hit a 3-pointer but Kobe Bufkin finished a three-point play with a free throw to put the Wolverines ahead for good.
Bufkin led all scorers with 28 points, while Connor Essegian set a career high with 24 for the Badgers. He also set a program record for made 3s by a freshman in a season, passing Brad Davison with a 3-pointer 3:25 into the second half.
Klesmit scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 5 of 8 on 3-pointers, for a Badgers high. He previously scored a career-high 27 points twice in his two seasons at Wofford.
UW chipped away at a Michigan lead that was 11 points late in the first half and 10 early in the second.
Essegian stopped in the paint out of a Badgers timeout and scored with his right hand to put the Badgers ahead 66-65 with 25.1 seconds remaining.
Michigan went to Bufkin but UW's Max Klesmit denied his path to the rim and Bufkin forced up a shot that Klesmit got a piece of. Kamari McGee got fouled and hit a pair of free throws.
Klesmit blocked a Bufkin corner 3-point shot out of bounds with 2.1 seconds left before Dickinson delivered the big shot.
UW (16-12, 8-10 Big Ten) fell to 4-6 on the road and 3-7 in day games. Michigan (17-12, 11-7) won a third straight game.
The Wolverines outscored UW 26-10 over the last 12:24 of the first half as the Badgers' shooting cooled and Dickinson dominated the paint.
Here are three things that stood out.
The Badgers were fine with Dickinson settling for jump shots from outside the paint early. Once the Michigan center got going inside, the Wolverines took over.
He scored eight points on the Wolverines' first four possessions out of the under-eight-minutes timeout to turn a 20-16 deficit into a 24-20 Michigan lead.
He took advantage of UW's Steven Crowl on the first three, scoring with a left-handed hook shot on the third after two layups off post moves. The Badgers brought in Carter Gilmore but he fouled Dickinson, who made two free throws.
Dickinson finished with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He added 10 rebounds.
UW was 8 of 13 on field goals after Essegian made a layup for a 17-9 lead 7:36 into the game. It made only one of its next 15 shots, a 3-pointer by Steven Crowl.
Seven Badgers players missed shots during a stretch where Michigan outscored them 17-3 over just 8:57. Six of the misses were layups by five different players; two were blocked.
UW also wasn't able to get to the free throw line until Wahl got fouled inside with 11:52 left in the second half.
UW's Chucky Hepburn limped to the bench favoring his right knee just over four minutes into the second half after a collision. He later went to the UW locker room and did not return to the bench.
McGee, who played a career-high 22:34 two games earlier against Rutgers, replaced him. McGee was strong on the defensive end as the Badgers rallied; he had six points in 25 minutes.
Hepburn was called for a flagrant 1 foul less than two minutes before he was injured. Referees saw on replay that he got his hand into Dug McDaniel's face while carrying the ball up court.
Up NextNo. 5 Purdue Boilermakers (24-5, 13-5) at Wisconsin Badgers (16-12, 8-10)
When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
Where: Kohl Center, Madison
TV: Fox Sports 1
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