The breakdowns were never fixed
Scrappy Terrapins win as Badgers fall apart
MADISON – Inconsistent offense.
Porous defense, particularly in the lane.
Uncharacteristically poor free throw shooting.
Sixth-ranked Wisconsin displayed all those unseemly traits Monday night at the Kohl Center against an undersized Maryland team that had lost its first two Big Ten games.
The result: The scrappy Terrapins scored inside throughout, hit timely three-pointers after halftime and stunned UW, 70-64.
The loss dropped UW to 2-1 in the Big Ten and 8-2 overall. It snapped UW’s Big Ten winning streak, dating to last season, at 10 games.
Eric Ayala (17 points), Aaron Wiggins (15 points) and Donta Scott
(14 points) hit big shots all night for the Terrapins (6-3, 1-2) and combined to make 16 of 33 field goal attempts.
Maryland kept UW big men Micah Potter and Nate Reuvers out of the post all night and outscored UW in the paint, 38-18. The Terrapins also outscored UW in fast-break points, 10-0.
Those numbers no doubt will be galling to UW coach Greg Gard and his players.
D’Mitrik Trice scored 10 of his 25 points in the opening half when Badgers were inefficient on offense and made only 5 of 10 free throw attempts.
Reuvers was scoreless in the first half. He finished 4 of 10 for eight points and grabbed six rebounds but was a non-factor on both ends for much of the game.
Potter hit just 2 of 8 shots and finished with four points and five rebounds.
UW entered the game shooting 41% from three-point range and 77% from the free throw line. The Badgers hit 8 of 21 three-point attempts (38.1%) and 8 of 15 free throws (53.3%).
Aleem Ford was the only other UW player in double-figure points. He finished with 10.
Trevor Anderson added six points for UW, on 2 three-pointers. Brad Davison hit just 2 of 8 field goal attempts and both of his free throw attempts and finished with five points.
Jonathan Davis added four points and Tyler Wahl, 2 for 6 from the free throw line, added two points.
UW held a 34-28 lead when the Terrapins went zone and scored six consecutive points to forge a 34-34 tie and force Gard to take a timeout with 13 minutes 29 seconds left.
Davis hit a tough jumper the lane. Wahl came up with a steal that led to a jumper by Trice.
After a Maryland miss, Wahl was fouled. He missed both free throws, however, and the Terps started scoring from inside and out. They went on a 14-7 run thanks to eight points from Ayala for a 48-45 lead with 7:27 left.
Ayala’s three-point play gave the Terrapins a 57-52 lead with 4:48 left.
UW pulled within 60-59 on a threepointer by Trice wit 1:58 left but Scott got free in the lane to push the lead to 62-59 with 1:33 left. Trice then missed a drive and Scott faked Reuvers out and drove in for a dunk and a 64-59 lead with 57 seconds left.
UW was finished.