MADISON, WI -- No. 13 Maryland suffered its first defeat in nine games this season, falling to Wisconsin 64-59 in the first Big Ten road action of the 2022-23 campaign.
Jahmir Young scored a game-high 17 while Julian Reese put together a 10-point, six-rebound performance. Donta Scott notched nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocks (tying his career high).
Coming into the game having trailed for just 8:07 out of 320 game minutes, the Terps faced their first sustained challenge as Wisconsin led for 18:46 of the first half. Maryland was able to overcome a slow shooting start with contagious defensive energy that held the Badgers to just 3-of-12 from three. The Terps got going from deep to end the half, knocking down five triples in the final five minutes.
The two sides traded small runs for most of the second half as neither team was able to pull away until a late 13-2 burst put the Badgers up for good. The Terps got within five with two minutes remaining and then within four with 16 seconds as Young knocked down a quick triple, but the Badgers made enough free throws down the stretch to thwart the comeback attempt.
Maryland is now 8-1 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play while Wisconsin is 7-2 overall, winning its conference opener.
Willard's Take
"Gotta give them credit. We talked a lot the past couple of days about their physicality on defense, especially at home. I thought we had opportunities; we just didn't take them...We missed like five free throws down the stretch and (Chucky) Hepburn hit that tough three at the end of the shot clock which was a back-breaker. But, I thought we hurt ourselves because we didn't take advantage of some of the opportunities we had. You have to give them credit, they're excellent defensively. They play physically, they're on a string together. You have to give them a lot of credit for taking us out of our offense."
Breaking Down The Action
- Maryland fell behind 13-6 in the first 6:35 of play after going 3-of-11 from the field overall and 0-for-5 from beyond the arc, despite consistently generating quality looks. The Terps faced their largest deficit of the season, trailing by 12 at 27-15 with six minutes left in the first half.
- Down 27-15, Maryland rattled off an 8-0 run featuring triples from both Scott and Hakim Hart to cut the deficit to 27-23 at the 3:33 mark and forcing Wisconsin into a timeout.
- Jahari Long hit a corner three in transition to stretch the Terps' run to 11-0 coming out of the timeout. The Badgers got a couple of buckets while Scott added a three for Maryland as Wisconsin went into halftime up 31-29, marking the first time the Terps trailed at the midway point all season.
- Maryland grabbed its first lead of the game 1:17 into the second half as Julian Reese hit a short jumper in the paint to put the Terps up 33-32. Wisconsin pulled ahead again afterwards, but the Terps battled back to take a 41-40 lead at the under-12 media timeout, thanks to an Ian Martinez three and a Patrick Emilien bucket inside.
- Wisconsin grabbed a 48-45 advantage with seven minutes left to play as 17 total fouls were called in the first 12 minutes of the second half.
- The Badgers got hot from deep towards the end of the second half and went ahead 56-47 with four minutes remaining.
Double-Figure Update
- Young scored in double-figures for the eighth time in nine games this season with 17 and the 83rd time in his 92 career games.
- Reese tallied 10 points, scoring in double figures for the fifth time this season and 12th time in his career.
Donta Moves Up The Record Book
- With nine points against the Badgers, Donta Scott moved into 54th all-time in Maryland history with 1,058 career points. He passed current Oklahoma City Thunder swingman Aaron Wiggins (1,052). Next on the list at No. 53 is Terrell Stoglin (1,066).
- With 10 rebounds on Tuesday night, he now ranks tied for 37th in program history with 551 career boards. He passed Jay McMillen (541), Adrian Branch (546) and is now tied with current Indiana Pacer Jalen Smith (551) for 37th. Next on the list at No. 36 is current Houston Rocket Bruno Fernando with 558.
Notes & Nuggets
- It was the eighth time in Scott's career he had double-figure rebounds. His career-high for rebounds is 12, done twice, last at Indiana (1/4/21)
- Scott also tied his career-high in blocked shots with three. He had three blocks in a game four previous times, the last against Vermont (11/13/21).
- Hakim Hart's nine rebounds were a career-high. He had notched eight boards five different times before, with the most recent coming vs Coppin State (11/25/22.)
- Don Carey played in his 125th career game on Tuesday night. He leads the team in both career games played as well as career starts (117). Jahmir Young started his 94th career game - every collegiate game he has played.
- All eight players who saw action for the Terps scored in the game.
- Six different Terps hit a three-pointer in the game.
- The start of the second half was delayed due to a rim being bent after Milwaukee Bucks' mascot Bango slammed a ball and damaged the rim at halftime.
Up Next
- The Terps will travel to Brooklyn, NY, to take on No. 7 Tennessee at the Barclays Center as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational on Sunday, Dec. 11 (4:30 p.m.,, FS1).
- After that game, Maryland will return to the XFINITY Center to host No. 19 UCLA on Wednesday, Dec. 14 (9 p.m., FS1).
