The Wisconsin Badgers continue to struggle with slow starts and it happened again on Monday night in College Park, Maryland. The Badgers put on another second half charge but their comeback fell short, falling to the Terrapins 64-60.
The Badgers shot 26.9% (7 of 26) from the field in the first half and missed all eight of their three-point attempts, trailing 33-15 at halftime.
Maryland stretched the lead to 21 points early in the second half and maintained a comfortable lead for half of the second half. Ethan Happ left with 10:38 left in the game with his fourth foul and the Badgers trailed 51-33. That’s when Wisconsin went on a 8-0 run to pull within 10 (51-41).
The Badgers eventually tied the game on a Nathan Reuvers three-pointer with 3:11 left to play and took the lead 60-59 when Brad Davison hit a three with 2:02 left.
Maryland’s Anthony Cowan hit a long three with 44 seconds left to put Maryland up 62-60, then added a pair of free throws for the final margin. Reuvers twice had open looks at three’s from the point, only to see both rim out.
Reuvers led the Badgers with 18 points, all coming in the second half. He hit 4 of 8 three-pointers.
D’Mitrik Trice added 13 points, Brad Davison added 11 points and Ethan Happ added 10 points and eight rebounds.
As a team, the Badgers went 11 for 22 from three-point range in the second half and 11 of 30 for the game.
The loss dropped the Badgers to 11-6 on the season, 3-3 in the Big Ten. Things don’t get any easier moving forward as the Badgers host Michigan (17-0) at the Kohl Center on Saturday.
Maryland won their sixth straight and improved to 15-3 on the season, 6-1 in the Big Ten.