With less than two minutes to play Maryland’s men’s basketball, Wisconsin turned to senior guard D’Mitrik Trice to try to reduce his three-point deficit on his home floor. Trice tried to go to the edge, but was tightly defended by Darryl Morsell, senior Maryland guard, and the mist fell into the hands of second forward Donta Scott.
With the opportunity to put his team at five, Scott took it upon himself to put this one away. After receiving a pass from a two-man Aaron Wiggins, Scott eclipsed a defender with a fake head and dived to the edge. Despite having three defenders descending on him, the sophomore rose above all else and dropped a monstrous two-stroke shot, giving Maryland a five-point cushion with 57 seconds left.
Although it remained close to the last buzz, Maryland largely led to a 70-64 upset victory over the no. 6 Badgers from there toured for his first win over a top-10 team since defeating Iowa 3 on January 28, 2016.
‘We’ve gotten so much better since the Clemson game [a few weeks ago]”We’re just getting a little bit better every game, we’re getting a little tougher,” said head coach Mark Turgeon. “And finally it all came together tonight.”
When the Terps participated in the game as a 9.5-point underdog, the Terps took the floor in Madison to prove themselves against a team with which they shared the Big Ten title last season. The Badgers maintained their success in 2020-21, but Maryland could not say the same, with a 0-2 start in conference with a 5-3 overall record.
But the Terps consistently stepped in with confidence for a close battle, with Monday night’s game drawing six times with ten main exchanges.
While the Badgers rolled out four different three-point shooters averaging more than 40% per game to start the action, the Terps were aggressive in their circumferential defensive efforts, turning on all screens to force Wisconsin to a 1-for-6 start from the field. and 0-for-2 from outside the arc.
And even as each side began to sag in their respective banks, Maryland’s defense remained intact at all three levels. Chol Marial, who had defended three days earlier against Purdue’s duo-centered big men, faced a steep task to stop like Badgers Nate Reuvers and Tyler Wahl.
Marial was once again up for the challenge and sometimes gave way at the post, but sent back anything that threw his opponents to the edge. Just under five minutes into Monday’s game, Marial was sent off by Badger forward Micah Potter to the low block. But just as he was going to the baby hook, Marial got up and got a fingertip for his shot attempt.
In the next possession, Marial receives a pass on the wing and immediately shoots down and strikes down a long two to leave Maryland standing at the point of 14:36 with 8-4 to put his teammates on the side let stand.
Potter, the leading scorer in Wisconsin, started the game shooting 1-out-5 from the field, and struggled to get in his place thanks to Maryland’s defensive intensity.
But Marial soon made two personal mistakes and sent him to the bench for the rest of the half to play just three minutes in the opening period.
Violations were a problem for Maryland, with Hakim Hart and Jairus Hamilton each choosing a pair to give Turgeon a while to subject them back into the game. Maryland committed an offense in the first half, as well as off the edge, and allowed the Badgers (a team that shoots 77% from the free-throw line) to parade to the charity line.
The Badgers, however, could not make the Terps characteristically pay, but converted only eight of the 21 attempts. They finished the game 24-for-55 off the floor.
Offensively, the Terps used a balanced attack on the floor each time and the ball moved quickly around the floor to constantly spin through the Badger defense. Whether it let the depths fly or the nearby attacks, Maryland kept pace with Wisconsin on the scoreboard through early opposition to the No. 1 defense in the conference. Yet both teams shot only 37% of the field in the first time.
If Maryland kept this competitive plan, it would not be done without the help of Darryl Morsell. The senior guard has experienced its share of the score so far this season, including last Friday’s loss in which it had a chance to level the game at the last second on the free-line but came empty-handed.
When he returned to the starting lineup in Tuesday’s game, Morsell made a name for himself late in the first half. With just under five minutes left, second forward Donta Scott pigeon takes his defender to the edge of the perimeter and forces Wisconsin to turn around and help defense. When Morsell was wide open in the corner, the senior received the pass and knocked three in the corner.
With the next possession, he decided to do it himself. He hit his husband from the dribble and plunged into the lane when Wisconsin turned again. But Morsell refused to let the contact deny him, rising over his two-stroke defender to reduce Maryland’s deficit to just one point, with 3:37 left.
But the Morsell mini-run would be the last of Maryland’s first half, with no goal from the field for the final three minutes of the first half to make the Badgers 28-24.
Maryland’s offense continued to a point of 16:14 in the second half without a score, with eleven consecutive missed field goals that allowed Wisconsin to run 20-9 and extend its lead to eight points – the largest of the match.
But as the final game began to increase each time the backlog, Maryland used its defense to create some momentum. Junior guard Aaron Wiggins, who came just over five minutes into the half in a 3-2 zone, got his hands in the passing lane and came up with a live ball steal at the top of the key, to to create an easy dunk while the Terps to set up in their press.
An up-and-down score from Hamilton during the next ride reduced the lead to four, with a miss and long setback on the next Wisconsin possession, allowing Donta Scott to come to the edge in transition for the inning around the leads to two and makes an 8-0 run with 13:31 left.
“They’re hard to protect,” Turgeon said. ‘We knew we were going to play 3-2, and we thought we could use it against this team we’ve used in the past. It was good for us … it gave us confidence and set our transgression in motion. ‘
Although the Badgers, on the other hand, kept shooting, Maryland never gave up its physical brand. The 2-1-2 press for the entire court made it difficult for the Wisconsin guards to get the ball on the floor, forcing one ten-second offense that gave Turgeon to the sideline.
Much of the attack on Maryland’s second half depended on his game while junior guard Eric Ayala started to heat up. Despite starting the game 0-for-3 from three points, Ayala scored 17 points in the second half, including a triple point with a bit left in the game to represent the Terps 48-45 as the dream of formulating a road upset begins.
‘[I was] just to get the game to me, ”said Ayala. “Just to go with the flow of the game and the ball just started going in for me.”
The rest of the Terps shot unconscious after the nightmare that had taken place before. They passed on 13 of the next 15 field goal attempts to the 0-to-11 series. Ayala still felt on the offensive side and made one-on-one contact to put Maryland ahead 57-52 with 4:48 left.
The Terps turned to Scott to close matters on both sides of the floor and eventually get the offensive execution needed to end a game while securing his first win in Madison since 2016.
“He only had one step on the defender and when he caught the one step, I was like ‘That’s a dunk,'” senior guard Darryl Morsell said. “I’m just glad he was able to complete it. played great for us, so I’m proud of him. ”
Three things to know
1. Maryland came up big with blocks – In a game that relied heavily on defense, the Terps showed up in the paint and won the block fight 5-1. Maryland has not been able to surpass five blocks in a game in its last three games, but Morsell’s three sweats on its own have pushed the team over the edge. Wiggins and Marial each added one of their own, while the Badgers struggled all night to stop the Maryland scorers in the paint.
2. Micah Potter was kept in check. After the early attack was stimulated, the 6-foot-ten senior could never really get going. He finishes with four points on 2-of-8 shooting and 0-for-2 from deep, and struggles to control the boards with just 5 rebounds.
3. The Terps have shot it much better than recent performances. The Terps have shot just 41% off the floor in their last four games and dropped to 14.4% in the loss against Rutgers on December 14th. In a game that went up in the second half on Monday night, shootout with the Badgers got to the point, which ended the game 50%. Although they started with 37% at halftime, the Terps scored the victory through a massive second half, sinking 16 of their 25 shots in the period.