MADISON, Wis. – There was no victory lap taken by the University of Wisconsin late Tuesday night.

The Badgers had successfully washed the taste from Saturday’s overtime loss at Nebraska, a game in which it led by 17 points, to upend new arch-villain Michigan. It’s the ninth Quad 1/2 win of the season for Wisconsin (15-10, 7-8 Big Ten) and the ninth victory in a game decided by five points or less.

But for a team that has alternated wins and losses since the beginning of the month, satisfaction is still out of reach for a team that knows it’s playing with a small margin for error.

“We’ve just got to keep finding ways to grind it out however we need to get the win,” freshman Connor Essegian said after UW’s 64-59 win over the Wolverines. “Tonight showed that even when shots aren't falling, we can find a way to get it done. We just got to continue to do that these last few games we have in the regular season.”

Here are my takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Essegian inched closer to the school record for three-pointers made by a freshman, trailing some pretty good guards in Brad Davison by two and Devin Harris by one. But what the guard did on Tuesday was showed that he’s more than just a spot-up specialist and a large reason why he finished with a career-high 23 points.

Essegian was active in his ability to cut, move, and work off the ball and take advantage of switches to get clear pathways to the rim. He was 6-for-12 from the floor and his four two-point buckets were three layups and a dunk, including two on consecutive possessions that pushed the Badgers' lead to 52-42 with 10:45 left as he took what the defense gave him.

“Definitely on the scouting report, (me driving to the hoop) is probably not people’s priority when guarding me,” Essegian said. “It’s been a part of my game I’ve been trying to work on. I know defenders are going to try to get me off that three-point line. Adding that to my game is going to be huge going on with my career.”

UW didn’t know it at the time, but that layup with 10:45 remaining was the last field goal Wisconsin would make. The Badgers missed their final 15 shots, but Essegian padded his point total (and kept Wisconsin in the lead) by going 9-for-10 from the line (career-highs in both categories).

“A lot of people are starting to relax a little bit at the line,” Essegian said. “Every day in practice, every guy can knock down a free throw. It’s just translating that, just taking the shot how you normally do … It was good to see that we’re taking a step in the right direction that way.”

Minutes have been hard to come by this year for Kamari McGee, who probably thought he would have a bigger role after leading Green Bay in scoring last season (11.6 in 30 games played). He had played more than five minutes in only one Big Ten game, hadn’t logged more than 12 minutes in a game all season, and was averaging 0.7 points per appearance.

His performance against Michigan demands that those minutes increase moving forward.

With Chucky Hepburn struggling mightily with his shot (1-for-9), McGee was the shot in the arm the team needed with six points (3-for-4) in almost 14 minutes on the court.

“I feel like I gave a good spark on both ends,” McGee said. “It was me just being a pest on the defensive end, getting into the paint, or making the right read. I feel like I was just all over the place.”

McGee was in attack mode from the moment he subbed in at 11:58 in the first half, hitting a pull-up jumper on his first possession and continuing to push in the second half. He drove to the low post and kicked out to an open Steven Crowl for a three-point shot to push UW’s lead to 46-40. On the next possession, he outhustled Hunter Dickinson for an offensive rebound, despite giving up 13 inches and 80 pounds to the Michigan center.

With McGee at the helm instead of Hepburn, the offense almost appeared to flow smoother with better ball movement. More importantly, McGee was willing to put his head down and go strong to the rim, which created open looks for the offense.

“He has given us sparks before,” Gard said. “I thought it was a good matchup for him, and it takes some of the pressure off Chucky. Constantly having to facilitate things, it gives (Hepburn) time to rest and reflect a little bit, too. Kam made the most of his opportunities.”

Hepburn still is a better presence defensively than McGee, evident by his late steal of guard Dug McDaniel that helped preserve the Wisconsin win, but McGee said his play Tuesday has put his confidence “through the roof.”

“I feel like I’m playing at much better pace,” McGee said. “I’m playing under control, so (my confidence) is going to keep going up.”

When the Badgers reconvene for practice Thursday to start preparing for Rutgers, the first thing Gard is going to do is put them through a layup line. Going 10-for-23 on layups, which was part of the reason Wisconsin missed its final 15 shots from the field, is not a recipe for winning basketball.

Wisconsin has been searching to play better/more complete basketball for several weeks, a blanket statement that covers a lot of areas that have been lagging. UW appeared to run mostly good offense in the final 10+ minutes but didn’t get good shots to fall and missed its fair share of layups.

However, UW won because it held Michigan to 2 of 11 to close the game, made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 44 seconds, and committed just five turnovers on the night, two coming in the final 10:45.

It also helped that Wisconsin – the second-worst offensive-rebounding team in the conference at 7.2 per game – hauled in 15. That ties its highest mark this season and gave them eight second-chance points while extending possessions.

“You’re not going to play every part of the game perfect,” Gard said, “but if you can be solid in enough areas, you give yourself a better chance.”

Crowl has faced a lot of tough matchups in the low post this season with mixed results, so his performance against Dickinson and the junior’s 17.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game were under the microscope.

The first eight minutes were good, but Dickinson won the rest of the half, as the junior seemed to grow stronger the louder the boos from the student section got.

Crowl started 3-for-4 from the floor, including a jumper over Dickinson in the lane after trying to work an angle against him on both low blocks, but missed his final six shots. Dickinson had nine points at halftime and chided the UW student section as he headed to the locker room.

The second half was a different story. Dickinson was bottled up by Crowl, Carter Gilmore, and others and was forced to be a passer, finishing with only three points, and missing all three of his shot attempts. Crowl had five points and five rebounds in a second half plagued with foul trouble but maintained his aggressiveness and physicality, something that has been fleeting at times.

“Twelve months ago, he couldn’t do that and gain leverage in the post,” Gard said. “The strength and the work he’s put in that regard has helped him.”

Gilmore didn’t attempt a shot filling in for Crowl but made Dickinson work through double teams and the Badgers were plus 14 points with him on the floor.

“He’s always had a high IQ and feel for the game, and he’s starting to get more and more consistent on some of those little things help his teammates when it doesn’t involve him scoring,” Gard said of Gilmore. “He just keeps battling. He understands that his role is to help in ways that don’t always involve being the leading scorer, and he’s ok with that.”

3 – Wins for Michigan at the Kohl Center since 2000 in 19 attempts

9 – Number of Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins for Wisconsin, trailing Purdue (13) and Iowa (10) for most in the conference

4 – Number of double-doubles for Crowl, who scored 11 points and matched his career high with 12 rebounds. He also added six assists.

3-2 – Wisconsin’s record when it shoots under 35 percent from the field (Badgers shot 33.3 percent Wednesday)

23.9 – Combined shooting percentage for Wisconsin starters outside of Essegian (11-46)

14 – Made free throws for Wisconsin, most since making 17 in the Big Ten opener against Maryland on December 6.

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