The No. 17 Wisconsin basketball suffered their second loss in three games, as they stumbled in a 76-68 defeat at the hands of the unranked Maryland Terrapins on Wednesday at XFINITY Center in College Park.
The Terps appeared to have done a great job at limiting the offense of the Badgers, who shot just 37.3 percent from the field and posted a mediocre 44.9 effective field goal percentage – the lowest since recording a 39.1 effective field goal percentage in a loss to the Michigan Wolverines back in December.
Also, the hot shooting from the outside that Wisconsin basketball displayed before the Maryland game disappeared versus the Terps. The Badgers, who hit 32 3-pointers on a 47.76 percent success rate in the previous two outings, went just 9-for-27 from deep. Five of those 3-pointers were from senior guard John Tonje, who was the only consistent performer on offense for Wisconsin basketball opposite Maryland.
Kevin Willard shares thoughts on Maryland’s defense vs. Wisconsin basketball
Asked about his team’s success defending against Wisconsin’s perimeter shooting, Maryland head coach Kevin Willard said that his players simply got it together defensively in the second half in particular.
“No. I mean I think I said this before – when you play against Wisconsin for the first time, that offense is really hard to guard,” said Willard in a postgame press conference, per Ahmed Ghafir of Inside the Black and Gold.
“I just think throughout the second half, guys figured out a little bit.”
Maryland can really defend, as the Terps are fourth in the Big Ten in adjusted defensive efficiency (102.3). Nationally, they are allowing opponents to only 31.5 percent shooting from behind the arc.
The Badgers, who are now 16-5 overall and 6-4 in Big Ten play, will look to recover on Saturday against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh Ryan Arena in Evanston.
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