No. 13 Maryland men’s basketball’s shooting struggles in 64-59 loss to Wisconsin

With one last push to extend their win streak, senior Donta Scott hesitated by pump-faking twice as he looked for an open three. But it was Wisconsin’s Chucky Hepburn who poked the ball loose and dove onto the ball, sealing the win for the Badgers. 

No. 13 Maryland men’s basketball was defeated by Wisconsin, 64-59, for its first loss of the season.

The steal was a single play in Hepburn’s team-high 13 points. His play down the stretch along with freshman Connor Essegian proved pivotal in Wisconsin’s upset win. 

Wisconsin received production from several Badgers throughout the game. Their bigs gave Maryland matchup problems and their guards consistently zipped passes through the teeth of the Terps defense leading to 14 assists on 20 made baskets.

Maryland started with an uncharacteristic sluggish start on both ends of the floor. The Terps’ offense found quality looks from three, but started out 0-5 from beyond the arc. The defense also allowed eight points in the paint in less than seven minutes, paving the way for an early Wisconsin lead.

Wisconsin went on an early 8-2 run, making five of its last six shots as the clock hit the 13:26 mark. Guards Jordan Davis and Hepburn combined for 12 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting to put the Badgers up 10 points. Maryland’s largest deficit in a game had been only three.

The Terps’ three-point struggles continued, as they made just one of their first eight shots. Meanwhile, Nebraska showed great team chemistry sharing the rock leading, which led to easy points inside and open threes. 

Scott turned the momentum around with a deep three off a Hakim Hart assist. After a great defensive stop by Scott, Hart responded with a three of his own. The threes were a part of an 8-0 run for the Terps that cut the Badgers’ lead to four. 

Coming out of a Wisconsin timeout, a Scott steal led to a Jahari Long corner three to stretch the run to 11-0. The Terps suddenly became more active on the defensive end, deflecting passes inside intended for Wisconsin big men. 

“I think once we got past that first seven, eight minutes, I thought we settled in pretty good and defended them pretty good the rest of the way,” coach Kevin Willard said. 

A tough step-back three by graduate student guard Don Carey tied the game for the Terps with just under a minute before the half. Wisconsin’s star forward Tyler Wahl scored on an easy layup off an inbounds pass shortly after, giving Wisconsin a 31-39 lead at halftime.

Maryland trailed at half for the first time all season. 

Junior forward Steven Crowl led all scorers with eight. As his 7-foot frame and ability to stretch the floor against smaller Maryland forwards created mismatches.

The Badgers assisted on nine of 13 field goals and scored 18 of their 31 points in the paint. The Badgers made it an emphasis to play through the bigs of Wahl and Crowl.

“When you have a guy like Tyler Wahl and you have a guy like Crowl who are such great passers at the high post, and then you have guys who are making shots they’re a tough guard,” Willard said. 

After a 24-point performance against Illinois, graduate transfer guard Jahmir Young was held to just four first-half points and three turnovers. 

“Early on I feel like we had had a couple defensive lapses early that helped them get going and we were a little stagnant on offense,” Young said. “They were just standing in there and they were being physical walling us up which is why we struggled.”

Re-energized after the break, Scott scored first on a floater over the towering Wahl right after picking up his third block of the game. But minutes later, a Carey turnover gave the Terps No. 10 in the game less than five minutes into the second half. 

With 14:56 left in regulation, Crowl sat on the bench after picking up his second foul. The Badgers ran with a smaller lineup as Wahl played at the center, and the Terps capitalized. Their defense led to offense as yet another Scott block led to a triple on the other end for Young. 

After starting 0-5 from three, the Terps got hot, shooting 7-13. However, the Terps were yet to sink a single free throw and struggled to reach the line. During this time, sophomore forward Julian Reese sat on the bench following his fourth foul. 

The defense tightened up on both sides, with turnovers, blocked shots and offensive fouls. As a result, both teams entered the double bonus in the second half. Two free throws by junior forward Carter Gilmore gave the Badgers a five-point lead with seven minutes remaining.

A Hepburn three extended the Badgers’ lead to nine. 

The Terps went 0-10 from the field after finally snapping the drought with a three by Young, and a shot clock violation by Wisconsin allowed for a Carey three to cut the deficit to five. 

Both teams traded trips to the free throw line in under three minutes as each side held its breath. A heads-up defensive play by Scott forced an offensive foul, which ended Wahl’s night ticks before a shot-clock violation. Maryland got the ball down five with 50 seconds to go. 

Maryland could not cash in on the ensuing possession and entered a free-throw battle with the Badgers. 

“I thought we hurt ourselves because we didn’t take advantage of some of the opportunities,” Willard said. “We had two close shots at the rim that we missed, which you have to give them credit, they’re excellent defensively, they play physical.”

Maryland ended the game shooting 2-18 and couldn’t get anything going in the last two minutes. 

Maryland will now travel to the Barclays Center for a matchup against No. 7 Tennessee on Sunday.