Wisconsin players pile on Josh Gasser after his buzzer-beater gave the Badgers a 53-52 win over Michigan at Crisler Arena on Wednesday night.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Two desperate teams.

Two failed attempts to slide off the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament.

Minnesota whiffed first, surrendering a nine-point lead to Michigan State on Tuesday night with a season in the balance. Michigan endured the encore Wednesday night, falling to Wisconsin in even more dramatic fashion.

The two schools meet Saturday (4:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) in Minneapolis in what amounts to a knockout game. The winner keeps its postseason hopes alive. The loser is finished, barring some Big Ten Tournament miracle.

“Two bounce-back teams, and a game of who can do it better,” Michigan coach John Beilein said Wednesday, moments after the Badgers felled his young team, 53-52, on the most wayward of buzzer-beating shots.

It shouldn’t be this way for the Wolverines, of course.

They did what they need to do Wednesday night. Well, almost. They came within a nanosecond of pulling off the upset they so desperately needed of No. 12 Wisconsin, a few inches from securing the signature win their resume lacked.

Blessed with fouls to give in the final minute, they sapped the Badgers’ precious time. They just about executed their defense in the final 5.4 seconds, that last crazy play, frustrating Wisconsin point guard Jordan Taylor.

On the floor for Wisconsin for that final fateful play: John Leuer, hitting 42.6 percent of his 3-pointers on the season; Taylor, hitting 41.3 of them, Keaton Nankivil, hitting 47.9 percent, Mike Bruesewitz, at 34 percent for the season, and freshman Josh Gasser, hitting 28 percent for the season.

Aside from forcing a turnover, watching the ball fall into Gasser’s hands was the best-case scenario.

It seemingly worked so well. Gasser launched a deep, off-balance 3-point attempt. The defense was late, but no matter. Gasser’s shot looked so askew that it made a thud on the backboard -- and banked in.

An insult to injured tournament chances.

“I was talking to Matt (Vogrich), and he said, ‘I wish he just made it without banking it,’” Michigan freshman Evan Smotrycz said.

The Wolverines had three in-and-out 3-point attempts that missed by mere millimeters in the second half. Here comes the worst shot of the night to win the game.

They could only shake their heads in disbelief afterward.

Michigan hasn’t been victimized like that since Ohio State’s Evan Turner hit a three-quarters court three at the buzzer during last year’s Big Ten Tournament to send the Wolverines home.

Wednesday night’s winner didn’t end their season, but it comes close.

“Each time you lose that opportunity, it means you’ve got to beat somebody else to make up for it,” Beilein said. “It gets down to a numbers game a little bit. How many of those type of wins do you have? And close doesn’t count.”

For the Wolverines, that’s too bad. They lost to No. 3 Kansas in overtime, lost by four to No. 2 Ohio State, missed a three at the buzzer and lost to Illinois. Now this. Thing is, they played pretty well Wednesday night. They shot 48 percent for the game, held Wisconsin’s sharpshooters to 32.3 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Now it’s another footnote.

History holds some hope for the Wolverines. Two years ago, they clinched an NCAA Tournament appearance with a defining 67-64 win on the road against Minnesota.

They’re playing well enough to do it again, which is good, because if they intend to keep their dimming postseason hopes alive, they have one chance left.

Pete Bigelow covers the Michigan sports team for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2551, via email at petebigelow@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @PeterCBigelow.