WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s never your last game until it’s over. Wisconsin’s two seniors, Travon Davis and Charlie Wills, ended their careers with an 87-57 loss to No. 8 Maryland that eliminated the Badgers from the NCAA tournament.
Both players left the game with 1:15 left so some of UW’s youngsters could experience the Terrapins’ presence, which Wills called “monstrous.” The tight gathering of Badger fans across the court raised a small standing ovation for the departing seniors.
Wills said it did not occur to him he was done until the final buzzer had sounded. For all intents and purposes, however, the game was over long before.
“Maryland’s a terrific team, and if I had to go out against one team, I wouldn’t mind it being Maryland,” Davis said. “They’re very capable of winning it all and, if they did, that would satisfy my itch at losing to them very much.”
The Terps looked quite like champions, statistically dominating the Badgers and never leading by less than 10 after 34 seconds into the second half.
Maryland’s seniors will go on to play again, most immediately against Kentucky in the Sweet 16 Friday. But everyone expected Maryland’s seniors to be here, unlike the No. 8 Badgers.
“Juan [Dixon] and Byron [Mouton] are two of three seniors, along with Lonny Baxter, that have done a tremendous job this year because they went to the Final Four last year and they came back to work harder,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said.
In a way, so did the Badgers’ pair.
Neither Wills nor Davis was a full-time player before this year. Sunday, they came up the biggest. Wills had 17 points to lead the team and Davis had 15, a career high.
It was a fine way to finish, but it was needed if the Badgers were to have any chance.
“We knew we had to come out and play a certain way,” Wills said. “Otherwise we were going to lose.”
Maryland was too much anyway. Playing in front of a partial crowd in Washington, D.C., just a half hour from their campus, the Terrapins stretched the lead from 10 to 20 and soon 30.
The fans got hold of the game and would not let go. Wave after wave of Terrapin bursts followed, and the momentum got out of control. Maryland seemed to have a finger on every shot, a hand on every loose ball. UMD out-rebounded the Badgers 41 to 32.
“I think it’s real hard when you go against a team that has a front line where you can take two 6-foot-10 guys out and replace them with two more 6-foot-10 guys,” said Davis, who stands 5-foot-10.
Maryland went on huge runs throughout the game. Davis and the Badgers went on just one, scoring 11 in a row to bring a 31-point lead down to 20 — temporarily. The seniors were instrumental, but insisted the instinct to come back was like any game and had nothing to do with an urgency to keep their playing days alive.
“My college career’s not over yet. I’ve still got to go to class on Monday,” Davis said. “And as soon as coach says it’s OK, we’re going to continue to play pickup games. So I’ve got a lot more college basketball to look forward to. The only thing that’s different is this jersey, because I’ll still be in college.”
It is the end of getting free sneakers. And visiting the team training staff. And putting on the Wisconsin jersey. But, after adjusting to three coaches in three years, Davis said getting used to no coach will not be too hard. Besides, there are those things no one — Maryland or anybody — can ever take away.
“I’ve got plenty of hardware and plenty of bling bling around my fingers,” Davis said, referring to the prizes from four NCAA tournament appearances, a Final Four and a Big Ten championship.
