Khalil Iverson
The Wisconsin Badgers made all the right plays down the stretch to knock off the Maryland Terrapins 59-54 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Wisconsin (15-17) moves on to face top-seeded Michigan State (28-3) in the quarterfinals on Friday morning at 11 a.m.
The Spartans won both games against the Badgers during the regular season, 76-61 in East Lansing and 68-63 in Madison last Sunday.
The Badgers out-rebounded Maryland (19-13) 59-54 and hit 20 of 24 free throws (83.3%). The Terrapins shot 88.9% from the free throw line but got just nine attempts, making eight of them.
Ethan Happ led four Badgers in double figures with 14 points. He hit 6 of 7 free throws to help the Badgers improve to 15-17 on the season.
Wisconsin shot just 36% from the field for the game and hit just 3 of 18 (16.7%) from three-point range. But when it counted, the Badgers made the plays.
UW collected a pair of offensive rebounds off of misses in the final minute and a half and with Maryland looking to tie the game in the final seconds, Khalil Iverson stole an inbounds pass and made two free throws to seal the victory. Iverson finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
Brad Davison, who scored 30 points last time out against Michigan State, had 13 points and Brevin Pritzl added 10 points and six rebounds.
Kevin Huerter scored 20 points to lead the Terrapins. Guard Anthony Cowan added 16.
Michigan State will be plenty rested, receiving a double-bye into the quarterfinals. Can the Spartans beat the Badgers three times in the same season? The answer to that question comes Friday morning in New York.
AUDIO: Brad Davison on getting another shot at Michigan State :13