Maryland battled throughout the entire second half for a chance to trim Wisconsin’s lead to one score. After a Jahmir Young layup with about 90 seconds to go, the Terps cut their deficit to four — the closest they’d gotten to the Badgers in the second half.
Then, Wisconsin drained most of the shot clock and Max Klesmit nailed a three-pointer, expanding the Badger lead to seven. Right after the Terps secured the most momentum they had all half, it was put to a stop.
Maryland men’s basketball hit three shots from beyond the arc in the final minute, but it wasn’t enough to erase the Wisconsin lead. The Terps fell to the Badgers, 74-70, in Madison Tuesday. It was Maryland’s fifth loss in its last six contests and drops Kevin Willard’s squad to 1-9 in games decided by five points or less.
“They’re playing hard, they’re working hard, they have a great attitude,” Willard said. “They’re just as frustrated as I am with the fact that we just can’t string together some W’s.
It moves the Terps (14-13, 6-10 Big Ten) into third-to-last in the conference — the bottom four teams in the conference standings are the only ones not to earn a bye in the Big Ten tournament.
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Both teams entered the contest struggling as of late, losing four of their last five games. Most of the Badgers’ struggles came on the road, though, as their only home loss in that span was to then-No. 2 Purdue. Greg Gard’s squad improved to 13-2 at the Kohl Center this season.
After trailing by seven points early in the first half, Maryland went on a 12-2 run to grab a 14-11 advantage. But it would be the first of several runs in the half.
Wisconsin scored five baskets in three minutes, including a poster dunk from AJ Storr to retake the lead.
The Terps clawed back to trim their deficit to one point on multiple occasions, but didn’t get back on top for the remainder of the half.
Maryland missed its last five shots of the frame and entered the break trailing 37-29. The Terps’ most commonly productive contributors led the way, as Young and Julian Reese scored 11 and nine points, respectively, in the opening 20 minutes.
Young and Reese were both 4-for-8 from the field and were the only Terps to make multiple shots from the floor in a somewhat sloppy opening half, in which the two teams combined to turn the ball over 15 times while recording just six assists.
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When the Badgers kept the ball in their hands, though, they were efficient. Wisconsin shot 12-for-22 from the field, making two of its five three-pointers and making 11 of 12 free throws.
Wisconsin’s offensive success didn’t continue after halftime. The Badgers started the second half shooting 3-for-12 from the field, but the Terps never cut the deficit to less than six during that span.
After a first half full of runs, neither team scored more than two unanswered baskets in the entire second half.
A pair of free throws from Reese cut the Wisconsin lead to five with just under five minutes left, the closest the Terps had gotten to the Badgers in the half.
Maryland had a chance to make it a one-possession game after forcing a Wisconsin turnover, but DeShawn Harris-Smith was whistled for an offensive foul right as he made a layup with just over three minutes remaining.
“I’m going to call the head of refs tomorrow,” Willard said. “It really should have been an and-one, that got overturned, and then he got a call for an offensive foul on a bucket so it was really five points that we got taken away”
A layup from Young trimmed Wisconsin’s lead to four with just over a minute to go, but the Badgers followed it up with Klesmit’s three that put the game all but out of reach. The Terps fought back within two with three three-pointers in the final minute, but watched another close game turn into a loss.
