The Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Maryland Terrapins last night 61-55 in College Park. Micah Potter was a stud last night for Badgers, pouring in 23 points and 12 rebounds. D’Mitrik Trice added in 13 points and rebounds as well. The Badgers improve to 13-4 overall and 7-3 in the Big Ten.
First Half Analysis
Maryland started the game with a small ball lineup. Donta Scott (6’7) was the tallest starter to start the game. Wisconsin wasted no time taking advantage of this. Off the opening tip, Tyler Wahl drove the ball to the lane for a quick 2-0 lead. Throughout the first half, Wisconsin did a much better job working the ball in the paint with Micah Potter and Nate Reuvers.
The man of the first half was Micah Potter. Potter ended the first half with 14 points and 8 rebounds. This included a pair of and ones in the point as well as two three pointers. D’Mitrik Trice also had 7 first half points. The Badgers took a commanding 38-20 lead at the half. The Badgers shot 46.9 % from the field in the first half and 46.2% from three.
The Wisconsin defense was also outstanding in the first half. Maryland had to work for virtually every shot they got and every shot they made in the first half. They also missed their first eight shots from three. Wisconsin held the Terrapins to 25% shooting and 14.2% from three. Donta Scott had 10 of the 20 points for Maryland. The Wisconsin bench was also vocal in the first half. In the first meeting in Madison, the Badger bench had no energy while Maryland’s bench was upbeat and vocal the entire game.
Second Half Analysis
Maryland came out on fire in the second half. After scoring 20 points the entire first half, the Terrapins scored 20 points in the first part of the second half alone. Maryland began on a 20-5 run to cut the Badger lead to 43-40. Micah Potter responded with an and one as well as a three to get the lead back to 52-42.
What was discouraging to see was when Maryland went on their early second half run, the Wisconsin offense became stagnant. After moving around with energy all first half, Wisconsin became content from three again. Give the Badgers credit as they were able to respond on the road and close this game out.
The Wisconsin defense also locked down after Maryland got within three. The Badgers were able to close the game even without making a field goal in the last seven minutes of the game. While it was great to see the defense hold, it was not a good look to see the offense not able to make a shot for that long of a stretch.
Up Next
The Badgers will travel to Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday. After, the Badger will host the same Nittany Lions squad in Madison on Tuesday. Penn State is coming off a tough defeat to Ohio State 83-79. Tip time is scheduled for 2 PM CST on Big Ten Network.
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