In their first matchup since falling out of the AP Top 25, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team came out 74-70 against the Maryland Terrapins Tuesday at the Kohl Center.
The Associated Press officially dropped the Badgers outside of the top 25 NCAA Men’s Basketball poll for the first time Monday since the first week of December, which was the first instance Wisconsin entered the AP Top 25.
With an undoubted chip on their shoulder, the Badgers prioritized passing at the start of the first half and assisted two of their first five makes. However, Wisconsin’s passing became one of their downfalls, especially for starting forwards Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl.
Crowl and Wahl combined for eight turnovers throughout the game, seven of which occurred in the first half. Crowl finished with a season-high five turnovers — the most turnovers in a single game of his collegiate career.
The Badgers came into the game averaging 10 turnovers per game and finished with 12. Wisconsin finished the first half with an eight-point lead despite eight turnovers thanks to Wahl scoring 10 of his 18 total points in the first.
Wisconsin’s A.J. Storr also fueled the Badgers’ first-half endeavors after a Micheal Jordan-esque left-hand dunk over Maryland forward Jordan Geronimo.
Maryland head coach Kevin Willard picked up a technical foul near the end of the first half after he confronted a referee during a Badgers possession, giving the Badgers an extra boost into halftime.
The Terrapins were not deterred as they battled back late in the second half after being down by as much as 10 points.
Wisconsin led 63-56 in the last minute of the second half after a 3-point shot from Badgers guard Max Klesmit, but Maryland scored on every possession after that shot.
The Terrapins fouled Wisconsin every chance they could after the inbound pass, extending one minute of game time to approximately 20 minutes of real time — timeouts included.
The game ended 74-70 with Maryland guard Jahmir Young leading all players with 20 points while making all seven of his free-throw attempts — this was Young’s 16th time scoring 20 or more points in a single game this season.
With March Madness around the corner, the Badgers need to push through their last four games of the season so that they can secure a good seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and make a push in the Big Ten tournament.
Wisconsin faces the Indiana Hoosiers Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Bloomington.
