Feature photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.
The No. 2 ranked Maryland Terrapins basketball team exited the floor moments after falling to unranked Wisconsin.
For the first time in the Xfinity Center this season, and the first time in 437 days, instead of wide eyes and smiles, they exited somberly. Most of the players’ heads were bowed, and many of the Terrapin faithful had exited the arena.
Riding on a roller coaster of emotions and difficulties, the Terps (22-4, 10-3 B1G) struggled from start to finish against the Badgers (16-9, 8-4), falling 70-57 as their 27-game home win streak came to a close.
“We didn’t do what we had to,” Sulaimon said. “We came out with our foot in the mud and we were slow getting to everything. We have to be better than that.”
Maryland struggled in many aspects of the game. They failed to take advantage of opportunities at the charity stripe, missing 10 of 22 attempts, they were outrebounded 40-30 and were dominated in second chance points as the Badgers outscored them 20-4 in that regard. In the first half, the Terps committed nine turnovers.
Wisconsin opened the game on a 7-2 run, a harbinger of the upcoming struggles. Maryland responded with a 12-0 run but that is where its success would end.
“We got out to 14-7 and we kind of lost ourselves,” head coach Mark Turgeon said.
Following the Terps’ 12-0 stretch, the Badgers enjoyed a 17-0 run that spanned eight minutes and six seconds. The run evolved into a 20-2 stretch and eventually a 29-7 run to end the half.
Turgeon said that the final 12 minutes of the first half was where the game was lost.
As the half neared its close, tensions began to escalate. With 1.8 seconds left, a double technical was called on center Diamond Stone and Wisconsin forward Charlie Thomas.
Here's the end-of-the-half mix-up that Big Ten fans are talking about. https://t.co/aoyy5pRMJF
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 14, 2016
Stone and Wisconsin forward Vitto Brown were fighting for the ball as they both fell to the ground, with Stone’s momentum knocking Brown over.
According to a source that was close to the court, a verbal altercation occurred after the tumble. As Stone was getting up off the ground, it seemed as though forward Nigel Hayes shoved him from behind. Stone’s hand, whether intentionally or unintentionally, pushed down on Brown’s head.
This is what earned Diamond Stone a tech. pic.twitter.com/rNIr3tVzrR
— Ryan Connors (@RyanConnors_) February 14, 2016
After the game, Turgeon said he did not see the scuffle, but said he will watch it and talk to Stone after he does. Sulaimon said he thinks it occurred as a result of high tension and competitiveness.
“You give your heart out in this game,” Sulaimon said. “Everything we go through, from June, you know, now it’s February, emotions flair sometimes, you get competitive and things happen.”
Before the half, point guard Melo Trimble made two free throws and Badgers guard Bronson Koenig made one.
Though the Terps tried to battle back in the second half, the Badgers’ lead proved to be insurmountable.
“Whenever we were in the game at some points they would go on and hit the big shots and get the offensive rebounds,” forward Jake Layman said. “Those are the things we need to clean up.”
After making three of four shots from three behind the three-point line in the first half, the Terps missed eight of ten in the second. Stone sat and watched from the bench for the first four minutes and 17 seconds of the second half after his first half scuffle.
The Terps managed to cut the deficit to six with 10:36 left in regulation as Layman drove down the baseline from the left side and found Stone for a two-handed slam. The play prompted Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard to take a timeout.
Throughout the rest of the game, Wisconsin put away the Terps as Maryland’s headlining stars struggled to impress.
Trimble finished the game 1-14 from the field with five turnovers. Forward Robert Carter Jr., who spent much of the game on the bench due to foul trouble, finished with four fouls and six points. Carter Jr. made three field goals and attempted five.
Brown led the way for the Badgers with 21 points on three 3-pointers. Koenig added 16 points to go along with three triples of his own. Brown and Koenig each tallied 12 points in the second half. The duo scored 24 of Wisconsin’s 34 second-half points, 18 of the team’s 34 points came from behind the three-point line.
The Terps’ inability to generate offense, combined with the Badgers’ offensive fluidity, led to a Maryland loss. This was the Terps’ first loss at home since December 3, 2014, when the then No. 21 Terps fell to visiting No. 7 Virginia, 76-65.
More than a year later, defeat found it’s way back into the Xfinity Center. And for the Terps, it wasn’t fun.
“It was tough,” Sulaimon said. “They had a great second half and every time we felt like we were coming back, they made another big shot. That can be discouraging at times. I’m proud of the way we fought. We fought to the last second and we tried. That’s how the ball bounces sometimes and tonight just wasn’t our night.”
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