Maryland Basketball: Terrapins holds off Wisconsin for quality resume win
By Zac Voynow
Maryland Basketball jumped out to a hot start, then held off Wisconsin to improve to 15-3 on the season.
The newly ranked Maryland Terrapins started the game on a 12-0 run against the Wisconsin Badgers. Wisconsin didn’t get it going offensively until halfway through the second half, and by that time it was too late.
Maryland’s general athletic frame was too much for Wisconsin to handle. They disrupted the passing lanes and played good on-ball defense. Wisconsin struggled to score until the last 10 minutes of the game. When they started streaking, however, it didn’t stop. Ethan Happ exited the game with 4 fouls around the 11-minute mark, then substitute Nate Reuvers caught fire from deep. Reuvers scored all of his 18 points in the second half, which effectively jump-started the Badgers run.
Anthony Cowan Jr. led the way down the stretch for the Terps as they barely held off Wisconsin. Cowan scored 20 points to lead all scorers. Bruno Fernando was a huge factor in the first half but struggled in the second half due to foul trouble and Greg Gard’s new gameplan. Fernando finished with 10 points, and only four rebounds while getting whistled for four fouls. Ethan Happ only had 10 points as well, but he collected eight rebounds. However, Happ also struggled with fouls as he got called for four.
The story of the game early on was that Wisconsin couldn’t hit a shot to save their life. When Happ left the game halfway through the second half, Reuvers caught fire and helped Wisconsin not only come back, but take a 60-59 lead with only a few minutes remaining. D’Mitrik Trice, who shot 5-14 from the field for 13 points hit some timely shots, and Brad Davison did what he does best, which is being a pest at the right times.
Despite a fantastic comeback effort from Wisconsin, Maryland hung on for a huge victory. The young Terps fought through adversity and improved to 15-3. They don’t have a terribly difficult schedule coming up, excluding their road game in East Lansing. If Maryland can get to that 19 or 20 win mark, then they can secure their spot in the NCAA tournament pretty early in conference play.
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Meanwhile, for Wisconsin, they’re now 11-6 and are in a bit of a rut. They have to go on a run now to try and secure an NCAA tournament spot without having to win a couple games in the Big Ten tournament.
The rematch for these two teams will be on February 1st in Madison, Wisconsin.