The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (13-4, 7-3 Big Ten) won their first game on the road at Maryland (9-8, 3-7) since Feb. 13.
Wisconsin cruised through the entirety of the game, and never once gave up the lead en route to a 61-55 win over the Terrapins.
Unlike the first time these two teams squared off, the Badgers had a hot start against Maryland. They led the Terrapins 19-8 after the first 14 minutes of the game, before Maryland snapped their cold spell on a Donta Scott three-point conversion.
Maryland shot just 25% from the field and 14.3% from beyond the arc in the first half and the Badgers soared to an 18-point lead at the break. Micah Potter showed out strong in the first half, providing an offensive spark with 14 points and eight rebounds. But, it was a tale of two halves, as Maryland looked like a brand-new team in the second half.
Men’s Basketball: Badgers look to avoid sweep against Maryland
The surge of energy coming out of the locker-room propelled the Terrapins to a 20-5 run over the first 8:15 of the second half. Not only did the Terrapins start the second half well, but they also finished strong, especially on the defensive end of the ball. Wisconsin went the final 7:05 of the game without scoring a single field goal.
The final four points scored for the Badgers were free-throws at the hands of D’Mitrik Trice to ice the game away.
Potter finished the game with 23 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 75% from the field. Trice was the next best with 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists to help the Badgers secure their third true road win of the season.
Men’s Basketball: Badgers look to avoid sweep against Maryland
The victory tonight also marked Wisconsin’s 116th true road win since the 2001-2002 season — the most by any Big Ten team.
Maryland is still winless at home this year in Big Ten play, but they are a dark horse team to make the NCAA tournament out of the Big Ten. Despite being 9-8 on the season and sitting at the cellar of the conference, they still have an impressive resume with road wins over No. 17 Minnesota, No. 12 Illinois and No. 6 Wisconsin earlier in the season.
As for the Badgers, they now turn their focus to the Penn State Nittany Lions (5-7, 2-6) as they round out their two-game road trip in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania. Penn State is coming off a four-point loss to No. 13 Ohio State.
Tip-off from Happy Valley is set for this Saturday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
