The Wisconsin men’s basketball team continued their winning streak. Now winners of five in a row, they defeated conference rival Maryland on the road, 70-69. Junior forward Tyler Wahl led all Badgers in scoring with 21 points, along with five rebounds and a block.
Other contributions came from sophomore guard Johnny Davis who scored 19 points for the Badgers and senior Brad Davidson. Davidson had 11 points as well.
Wisconsin picked up the tempo early on. They started the game scoring from everywhere on the court. After a Davidson three point shot, the Badgers were already up 23-6, 10 minutes into the game. Another three from Davis was made, which brought the lead up to 20.
After a 29-10 lead by Wisconsin, Maryland was forced to call a timeout with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Maryland started to pick up the pace. They gathered themselves after being down 20 and cut the lead to under ten. A 13-0 run brought Maryland back into the game. Davis was able to make a layup right before half, which brought the Badgers lead back up to just seven.
Wisconsin led at halftime, 33-26.
The Second Half
The conference battle continued to excite people as the second half was dead even. Both teams were trading buckets back and forth. After a few free throws by the Terps, they took their first lead of the game 42-41 with just about 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
Wahl’s physical play helped Wisconsin stay in rhythm and wouldn’t let Maryland pull away with the outcome. After going to the line, Wahl connected on both free throws which brought the lead back to the Badgers 57-55 with five minutes remaining in the second half.
The senior Brad Davidson was doing what he has done for years now, closing out the game. Davidson made a beautiful jump shot with a minute and a half remaining, then hit both his free throws when fouled. This gave Wisconsin a four point lead with under 30 seconds remaining.
Wisconsin pulled out the victory in a close one, 70-69. The Badgers are now 4-1 in conference play, placing them 3rd in the Big10.
The team struggled from shooting from range, but managed to shoot 44.6% from the field. Wisconsin did a great job handling the ball as well, only giving up eight turnovers.
Wisconsin continues their conference schedule versus No. 13 Ohio State at home. The game is on Jan. 13th, tipoff is set for 6pm CT.
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