WASHINGTON, D.C.–It was never a secret how good of a basketball team Maryland was, but for the Wisconsin men’s basketball team, the Terps ended up being more than it could handle.
The Badgers were unable to counteract Maryland’s pressure–inside or out–as they were soundly defeated 87-57 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
“[Maryland is] monstrous,” said senior Charlie Wills. “Their inside-outside game is phenomenal. They are very explosive and can pour it on pretty quick. I think [UM] can take this all the way.”
Eighth-seeded UW (19-13) was put away ultimately at the start of the second half, as top-seeded Maryland (28-4) opened up where it left off before heading into the locker room 38-30 at halftime. UM ended the first half on a 6-2 run to take a 38-30 advantage and then continued that roll with a 17-3 run in the first 6:45 of the next twenty minutes.
The Terps went up by 14 at that point and never had to look back as UW only connected on three field goals and one free throw in the first eight minutes of second-half action.
“The coaches did a great job of scouting, as they knew that Wisconsin didn’t like a lot of pressure,” said Maryland senior guard Juan Dixon. “We wanted to put a lot of full-court pressure on [Wisconsin] to try to force them to shoot something. I think we did a great job of that.”
The straw that broke the camel’s back belonged to Juan Dixon. Dixon scored 29 points in the contest that resulted in his breaking two school records. Dixon became the Terps’ all-time leading scorer with 2,172 points, breaking Len Bias’ previous mark of 2,149. Dixon’s 197 points in NCAA tournament action also broke a record previously held by Bias.
“As Juan Dixon goes,” commented senior guard Travon Davis, “So go the Maryland Terrapins.”
Dixon was one of three Maryland players in double digits. Wisconsin was led by the senior duo of Wills and Travon Davis, who ended their collegiate careers with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Wills broke a record of his own in the loss as he played in his 129th straight game.
“[My initial thought on the record is] that I’m always sore,” said Wills. “I’m just glad I was able to do something like that and that I had the opportunity to play with some great players that allowed me to have these kinds of experiences.”
UW leading scorer Kirk Penney was held to nine points on three of 14 shooting.
After starting the second half on a slow note, the Badgers did manage to break out of their shooting slump thanks to Davis. Davis scored seven points in a 11-0 run in a three minute span to pull to within 20 of Maryland with 5:25 remaining, but could not muster much more from there. The Terps closed out the game on a 16-6 run to earn a berth in the Sweet 16, where they will face off with Kentucky.
Wisconsin shot a meager 35.5 percent from the field in the second half, connecting on only 11 of 31 shots from the field, including one of eight from behind the arc. They finished the game 21 of 59 and five of 19 from downtown. Maryland, on the other hand, shot 51.6 percent from the field.
The Badgers did not look like the same team that beat St. John’s 80-70 Friday in the first round. While the shots were not hard to come by for Wisconsin, the connections were. UW was not able to connect on its first, second and sometimes third shots as it only managed nine second-chance points in the loss.
“[Maryland’s] defense created a lot of offense,” said UW head coach Bo Ryan. “It was very difficult for us to get re-energized after the Juan Dixon [three-pointer at 17:51 in the second half].”
That three-pointer by Dixon put the Terps up by 22 and sparked the run that dug a hole the Badgers couldn’t get out of.
When the game started it looked like the Badgers were going to be able to disprove critics that gave them no chance in beating Maryland, as both teams shared the same score six times and switched the lead three times. At one point, UW held a four-point advantage with just over six minutes left in the first half.
Another factor that contributed to the Badgers’ loss came in the fan support Maryland received. The Terps were playing only nine miles away from home at a site that is deemed neutral, but hardly held an unbiased presence.
“I didn’t care then because I was happy for the players,” said Ryan about learning that the Badgers would be playing close to Maryland’s home. “I think this was quite an experience for our young guys. This might have been one of the toughest situations in the country to play in,” he added.
“We played a good team that played extremely well,” continued Ryan. “Give [Maryland] credit first. I’m glad [UM] kept the pressure on and that our younger guys got the chance to go against their best.”
