(COLLEGE PARK, MD) — Echoing the 2000 meeting between Wisconsin and Maryland in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, the two teams needed overtime to decide the heated battle between two decidedly different basketball squads.
This time however, Maryland, strong in the post and with explosive offense out-dueled an experienced and disciplined Wisconsin basketball team, 73-67 in front of a capacity crowd at the Comcast Center.
The Badgers had their chances, as Mike Wilkinson drained a three pointer with 0:12 left in regulation to give the Badgers a 61-60 just their third lead of the second half. Devin Harris took the inbound pass and delivered a quick pass to Wilkinson who was left wide open after Maryland?s Jamar Smith came over to double team Harris.
?That was the open one,? head coach Bo Ryan said of the play. ?When Smith steps off [Wilkinson] was open. It was a good assist and a good catch and shoot.?
Maryland?s Chris Gilchrist took the ensuing possession down the lane and missed the contested lay-up. Maryland?s Nik Caner-Medly followed with an attempted putback, but a foul from the Badgers? Zach Morley, sending the Terrapins? best shooter to the line with two seconds remaining.
?It was one of those things where not everybody executed,? Morley said. ?You can?t blame everything on that play. It was just one of the those plays where we just didn?t execute like we should?ve. I went up for it, and [Caner-Medly] just had better positioning on it.?
Caner-Medly missed the front end of his two free throws and drained the second, tying the game at 61. The sophomore was held to just seven points on the evening on 3-of-8 shooting, but delivered four crucial blocks and was an imposing defense presence in the lane.
The Badgers tried to set up one last play from underneath the Terrapins basket, but Morley?s crosscourt pass was picked off by Maryland freshman D.J. Strawberry who tossed up a wide open half court shot that clanked off the back of the iron sending the game into overtime.
Strawberry, who has become the fruit of the Terps recruiting class, scored only three points, but did a fine job defending the Badgers? Freddie Owens and recorded five rebounds, two blocks and four steals in just 26 minutes of playing time.
Wisconsin took their only lead of the overtime, 65-63 after sophomore Boo Wade stole the ball from Maryland guard Chris McCray and converted a layup with 2:45 remaining in the period.
But the Terrapins scored eight consecutive points and held the Badgers to just two points over the last two and half minutes of overtime.
Maryland?s lone senior, Jamar Smith, provided most of the offense for the Terps, recording 25 points and 12 rebounds.
?He?s a great player,? Morley said of Smith. ?I think he?s just smart, athletic and he?s strong. He knew what to do and when to do it, and you know, tonight we just weren?t able to stop him.?
McCray followed with 16 points on 6-8 shooting for Maryland. Gilchrist made a late bid for a triple double, notching 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
?They were very quick off the floor,? head coach Bo Ryan said of the Terps. ?Quicker than any team we?ve seen this year.?
Harris paced Wisconsin with 24 points. After struggling in the first half, and for most of this early season, to find his shot, Harris connected on five of nine three pointers in the second half. Junior forward Mike followed with 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Badgers.
The Terrapins took a 30-22 advantage into halftime behind a 14-2 run that included seven straight points from Smith. The Maryland power forward, along with point guard Chris McCray led all scorers with eight points at the break. Wilkinson led the Badgers with seven points at the half, but committed three of Wisconsin?s nine first-half turnovers.
The Badgers only committed five turnovers over the entire second half and overtime, but were outmanned in the paint, and were outscored 40-22 while giving up 17 second chance points and 14 off of turnovers under the tough Maryland pressure.
?We did a pretty good job of stopping them originally, but they get some offense rebounds and put them back in,? Harris said of Maryland. ?That?s why they shot such a high percentage.?
Maryland was an impressive 48.4 percent from the floor while Wisconsin hit only 36.1 percent of their field goals.
The pressure remained constant throughout the game, but the Badgers were able to find their perimeter offense to counter Jamar Smith and the rest of the Maryland Terrapins. However, Wisconsin failed to convert multiple times down the stretch preventing their fourth consecutive victory and a win in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
?We had our chances,? Morley said. ?We just had a few mental lapses and we have to learn from this game and move forward.?