The Maryland Men’s Basketball thrashed Illinois Tuesday night to go 8-0 on the season and 13th in the AP voting. But in the first conference road game of the season, the Terps couldn’t overcome his 14 costly turnovers and back-to-back shooting his knights, losing 64-59 to Wisconsin State and headed his coach Kevin He. It was his first loss under Willard.
Despite many mistakes, Terps hung around for most of the game.
Willard said, “I thought I hurt myself because I didn’t take advantage of some opportunities.
It wasn’t a good start for Maryland, especially on the offensive side. The Terps started 0-5 from 3 and it took senior forward Donta Scott almost seven minutes to break the ice over the arc. Shots didn’t consistently fall out of two-point range, either.
The Terps were also struggling to stop Wisconsin as the Badgers came out and did something few teams could do against Maryland in the first eight games. For most of the first half, the Terps were unable to slow down a team of Badgers who were making open looks near the basket and hitting shots from distance.
“Definitely had to feel my way [the game] “Early on,” said Jameel Young, a University of Maryland graduate guard who ultimately led all players with 17 points. I feel like it helped. We were a little stagnant on the attacking side.”
The Terps trailed by 12 points and turned their backs on the wall for the first time all season.
However, Maryland responded to the call and showed resilience, going 14-4 in the final 5:20 of the half with three consecutive 3s by senior guard Hakim Hart, Scott and junior guard Jahari Long. Including the pointcut. Wisconsin lead to 2 at halftime.
“After the first seven or eight minutes, I think it settled down pretty well,” Willard said.
Scott’s attacking performance was fine, but his most important contribution lay elsewhere. He blocked his three shots at Wisconsin, and on Tuesday night he had 10 rebounds, leading Maryland in both categories.
Scott was very active as the team struggled to establish his presence in the paint. Sophomore forward Julian His Reese struggled to make a presence against Big His Ten competition after dominating the first game of the season against weaker competitors, again fouling his got into trouble. Reese said he scored four fouls in both his conference games for the Terps.
Wisconsin is not only a physical team, but one that consistently pulls long possessions and forces opponents to adhere to a methodical style of play on both offense and defense. It was put on display Tuesday as the Terps held their lowest points of the season.
“They’re great defensively. They play physically,” said Willard. “They pull the strings together. They’re a good defensive team, so I have to give them a lot of credit for pulling us off the attack.”
With limited possessions, the tolerance for error decreased, and Maryland wasn’t as disciplined as they were after nine games. It was only the second time throughout the season that he lost the turnover battle.
After swapping baskets for much of the second half, with both teams extending their lead to within four in the first 13 minutes of the period, the Badgers heated up. His 8-0 run, highlighted by freshman guard Conor Essegian’s two of his 3-pointers, gave Wisconsin the lead and pressured the Terps to respond.
Simply put, we couldn’t. The Badgers continued to shoot from the outside and in his final 20 minutes he went 9-4 before finally pulling away to give Maryland his first loss of the season in 2022-23. A few tarp buckets temporarily called the result into question, but ending the game missing 15 of 18 shots from the field was enough to ruin Maryland’s hopes of staying undefeated. It was enough.
Tuesday night’s match was the second of Terps’ four-game gauntlet. After defeating Illinois on Friday, they had to make their way to Wisconsin and face No. 7 Tennessee in a neutral site matchup this Sunday. to face off against No. 19 UCLA, which concludes the main points of Maryland’s non-conference slate.
3 things you should know
1. Donta Scott was all over the court. Scott is considered the best player on the Maryland team and showed why on Tuesday night. It was the most balanced of all, but it wasn’t enough to lead the Terps to victory.
2. There were many mistakes. In addition to its numerous turnovers, Maryland was in turmoil on both offense and defense. Hardly getting out in transition, where the Terps thrive, allowed Wisconsin to dictate the course of the game.
3. I don’t have time to reflect. Maryland’s challenging early December schedule is both a blessing and a curse. They have to chase their first loss of the season in a match against a Top 10 opponent. It’s a tough challenge, but it’s also an opportunity to bounce back with a signature win, after which Terps will return home promising to be her XFINITY center vibrant to play UCLA’s marquee college basketball brand.
