It’s a quick turnaround for the Wisconsin Badgers. After falling 66-63 last night to Northwestern, they take on Maryland Terrapins in College Park tomorrow night. Wisconsin won the first battle 64-59 in Madison. Tip time is 6 PM CST on BTN. Here is a preview of tomorrow’s game.
Can The Big Three Bounce Back vs. Maryland Terrapins?
Wisconsin’s big three of Tyler Wahl, Chucky Hepburn, and Steven Crowl struggled for the most part last night. They combined for 31 points on 11/33 shooting. Northwestern’s defense deserves a lot of credit, but all in all, the big three need to play better this time of year.
Tyler Wahl is getting back to 100% still from his ankle injury, so I understand that. Steven Crowl was double-teamed a ton, but I still expect him to shoot more than seven times. Chucky Hepburn also needs to be better in clutch time. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back tomorrow nigh against Maryland Terrapins.
Free Throw Shooting
Free throw shooting continues to haunt this team, and it’s definitely a mystery. They shot really well from the line early in the season. Once Wisconsin got into Big Ten play, it took a fast 180. They were only 9-16 from the line last night. If you shoot average from the line or slightly above, they come out with a win. The same is likely said tomorrow against Maryland Terrapins.
This seems like a game that will go down to the end again for Wisconsin. If they can close the game at the line, it will be something to watch. Connor Essegian and Chucky Hepburn are good free-throw shooters at 93% and 71%, respectively. The rest of the team is average at best.
Wisconsin vs. Maryland Terrapins Prediction
Overall, it’s been a pretty gloomy preview. The reason I say that is because I don’t think the problems the Badgers had last night are fixable in two days. It’s also been a crazy day and a half as the Badgers left Madison yesterday morning and got on a plane right after the Northwestern game to Maryland. Every starter played at least 32 minutes as well. How fresh will the Badgers be, especially on the road?
This is another winnable game for Wisconsin. Maryland is always a tough place to play, but they have their eyes on revenge after the Badgers took the first game in Madison. The Maryland Terrapins have an experienced and athletic lineup led by seniors Jahmir Young and Donta Scott.
If the Badgers can attack sophomore Julian Reese, they should have quite the advantage in the paint. If and when Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl are double-teamed, can they find open teammates, and can they hit shots timely?
I may be wrong here, and I hope I am. I just think with a tough Big Ten schedule and playing two road games in three days is a bad combination. It doesn’t sound like Max Klesmit will be available either so Wisconsin needs productive minutes from their bench. That hasn’t happened a lot this year. I think Wisconsin drops their second game in a row.
Wisconsin Badgers 65 – Maryland Terrapins 73
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