Talented Terrapins dominate at home
First of five challenging road games for Badgers
College Park, Md. — The gantlet begins Saturday at the Xfinity Center. “We know what’s coming,” Wisconsin interim head coach Greg Gard said. “We know Maryland is a really good team.”
The secondranked Terrapins (22-3, 10-2 Big Ten), who host unranked UW (15-9, 7-4) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, have lost one home game since joining the Big Ten before last season.
Fifth-year head coach Mark Turgeon, 24-6 in all Big Ten games, has put together a roster capable of contending for a national title.
“Mark has done a really good job assembling that group and they’re experienced,” said Gard, whose team lost to Maryland, 63-60, last month in Madison. “They’re very similar to how we were last year. They’ve got a lot of talent and they’re experienced.”
Beginning with the trip to the Xfinity Center, UW plays five of its final seven regular-season games away from the Kohl Center. That stretch should be daunting because of the difficulty of winning on the road and the quality of opponents.
“In my opinion, the Big Ten is one of, if not the best, conference in the country,” UW guard Bronson Koenig said. “We have the best teams in the conference at their places.”
Maryland, Michigan State, Iowa and Purdue are a combined 50-3 at home this season and are ranked in the top18 of The Associated Press poll. Only Minnesota, 5-9 at home, has proved to be a hospitable host.
UW opened Big Ten play with a six-point loss to Purdue and rallied to defeat Michigan State by a point to start its current six-game winning streak.
Maryland is 32-1 at home since joining the Big Ten, with the lone loss coming against Virginia last season in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Terrapins extended their home winning streak to a program record 27 games Tuesday with a 93-62 victory over Bowie State.
The Terrapins are 15-0 at home in Big Ten play, including 6-0 this season. Their average margin of victory in those games is 10.2 points.
“I think Mark has found his comfort level there with this team,” saidUWassistant Howard Moore, who spent time at Maryland earlier this season when he worked for the Big Ten Network. “When I was with BTN I went in there and watched practice and the first thing he said was: ‘I really like this team.’
“And you could tell. He got on them when he needed to, but he really allowed them to play within the structure he has put in place.
“I think there is a comfort level both ways, with the players and coaches. That is allowing them to play the way they play.”
The Terrapins have won their six Big Ten home games this season by margins of 6, 23, 35, 6, 6 and 11 points. They handed UW a 59-53 defeat last season in College Park.
“It is just a crazy environment,” Koenig said. “Not a lot of teams win there.”
After suffering a 70-65 loss Jan. 12 at Northwestern, UW was 1-4 in the league and 9-9 overall. Only two teams were below UW in the Big Ten standings — Rutgers and Minnesota.
After extending their winning streak to six games with a 72-61 victory over Nebraska, the Badgers trail only five teams in the standings. The Badgers are one-half game behind Purdue and Michigan and 2 games behind coleaders Maryland, Indiana and Iowa.
“The best part is that we’re taking care of business and getting the ‘W,’” said junior Vitto Brown, who is averaging 12.0 points and shooting 70.8% in the last four games. “That is most important.”
By winning six consecutive
games — including two on the road — UW has clawed its way into the discussion for an NCAA at-large berth. The Badgers are listed among the first four out by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
The seven-game stretch could make or break UW’s NCAA at-large hopes. An 11-7 finish in the league would leave UW in excellent shape for an at-large berth. A 10-8 finish would be more precarious.
“We’ve got to be competitive,” Moore said. “That is something that doesn’t need to be mentioned but that is the constant. If we show on the court that we’re not competitive, then we don’t deserve anything.
“You’ve got to compete. That is the mainstay whether we are here or in Maryland or wherever we’re going to be down the stretch.”