Maryland men’s basketball gets revenge on Wisconsin with 73-55 win

Jahmir Young feasted all night long in front of a home crowd at the XFINITY Center. With the Terps already holding onto a commanding lead, he stood in the corner while Hakim Hart held the basketball. 

Using his quick first step, Young darted across the baseline and Hart zipped in a bounce pass, which resulted in a flashy dunk. The crowd dressed in all black erupted, as they knew the Terps were in command.

Maryland men’s basketball’s home court advantage allowed them to get their revenge against Wisconsin, winning 73-55. The Terps move to 10-1 at home and 4-5 in conference play.

“This building, especially when the students are in it, is electric,” coach Kevin Willard said. “That wall is really cool; it’s everything. This is a true home-court advantage. We haven’t really capitalized on big runs, but we’ve gone on some good mini-runs with the press and it’s really helped having a really good home crowd advantage.”

Young was the hero yet again for the Terps, stuffing the stat sheet with 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Sophomore forward Julian Reese also stepped up with 14 points and recorded pivotal defense plays down the stretch.

Senior forward Donta Scott recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Hart added 13 points and a career-high eight assists. It was an all-around team win with multiple players pitching in as four Terps reached double figures.

“It’s very important because it makes us very hard to guard … I feel like teams have a hard time guarding us when we’re all clicking,” Hart said.

For Wisconsin, freshman guard Connor Essegian tallied 19 points with four three-pointers. The frontcourt duo of Tyler Whal and Steven Crowl combined for 24 points, but could not anchor down the paint as the Terps scored 38 of their points inside. 

Both teams got into a rhythm early, scoring inside the paint until Essegian connected on a three-pointer and Scott returned the favor with a three-pointer of his own four minutes in.

Maryland quickly got hot and the home crowd got loud early as a result. The Terps connected on seven straight from the floor to pull ahead by two points. Eight minutes into the game, both squads were shooting over 60% from the field. 

However, the high output of scoring changed soon after as both teams had a four-minute stretch without scoring a point and went 0-5 from the field during the run. Wahl and Crowl were plugging up lanes inside and staying out of foul trouble with their superior length and size, causing issues for the Maryland offense.

The slump ended for the Terps and a three from Scott erupted the home crowd, marking an 8-0 run. The same could not be said for Wisconsin, who entered another four-minute scoring drought, now down 28-23.

The Maryland offense got it done inside and out in the first half. But the same could be said about the Badgers and their offense. Despite having a height advantage down low, they knocked down threes and matched the Terps’ shooting performance with four different players knocking down threes of their own.

Offensively, the trio of Young, Reese and Scott balled out. At half, they combined for 28 of Maryland’s 32 points. Hart only had two first half points, but showcased his unselfishness with five assists. 

For Wisconsin, Crowl and Essegian led the way with their efficiency. As a team, the Badgers struggled to rebound with only nine in the first half. They also were outworked 18-10 regarding points in the paint. 

Maryland’s runs on offense and key plays on defense allowed it to regroup at halftime, leading 32-28. 

“I was excited, we haven’t been up at halftime very much in Big Ten play so it was all positive in the locker room,” Willard said. “I felt like we were in really good shape and we just came out and were aggressive.”

Maryland rattled off five points with a quick score inside by Hart and a three from Young quickly in the second half.. Shortly after, Reese threw down back-to-back dunks to give  the Terps a 41-33 lead. However, Reese wasn’t done. On the Terps’ third possession in a row he scored inside.

Essegian nailed a three and remained a perfect three of three from beyond the arc but the game started to slip away for the Badgers.

The Terps kept their foot on the gas and scored six points in under a minute to respond. Reese, Young and Scott all reached double figures. Their tempo offense visibly wore out the Badgers defense. 

“Since the start of the game we got after them, just trying to keep the tempo up, make them play at our pace,” Young said. “They like to slow things down and for us to be successful I feel like we can play a little bit faster, just get up and down the floor and wear them out.”

At the 13-minute mark, Wisconsin entered another slump and Maryland capitalized, but Hart began to heat up, getting a three to go with 12:20 remaining. The crowd exploded as Hart was on pace for a double-double.

Maryland locked down sophomore guard Chucky Hepburn, who only had three points in 23 minutes of action. Wisconsin instead leaned on Essegian’s outside shooting and the low post-play of Whal and Crowl.

The Terps’ offense played with confidence and shared the basketball. Senior forward Patrick Emilien made his return for the Terps and knocked down two free-throws to give Maryland a 15-point lead with six minutes remaining. 

Maryland stepped up and matched the physicality of Wisconsin’s bigs and the shooting of its perimeter players. Wisconsin’s multiple-scoring droughts were the difference in a game that featured high intensity, as the Terps won by 18.

Maryland will stay in College Park for a Big Ten matchup against Nebraska Jan. 28 at the XFINITY Center.