Terrapins ride Wells’ hot hand

Senior guard scores 26 as Maryland concludes Wisconsin’s win streak.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. — Dez Wells scored 26 points and No. 14 Maryland held off fifthranked Wisconsin 59-53 Tuesday night, ending the Badgers’ 10-game winning streak and ruining their bid to clinch a share of the Big Ten regularseason title.

Melo Trimble added 16 points for the second-place Terrapins (23-5, 11-4 Big Ten), who let an 11-point halftime lead get away but finished the game with a 12-6 run.

The victory improved Maryland’s home record to 17-1. The Terrapins are 9-0 in games decided by six points or fewer, and they’ve won their last three by a total of 17 points.

“We’ve been in so many close games, we’d have just kept doing what we do,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. “Our guys were really determined tonight, starting with Dez Wells.”

Maryland led 55-52 before Trimble made a driving layup and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but after Wisconsin misfired twice on the other end, Trimble iced it with two foul shots. Maryland held on despite missing nine of their last 10 shots.

After the final buzzer, hundreds of fans stormed the court to celebrate the Terrapins’ most significant win in their first Big Ten season.

Frank Kaminsky scored 18 for Wisconsin (25-3, 13-2) and Sam Dekker scored 14. The Badgers’ 10-game winning streak was their longest since an 11-game run in 1941 to win the national championship.

Wisconsin hadn’t lost since Jan. 11 at Rutgers.

“We were close a couple of times but we just couldn’t do it. It’s definitely frustrating,” Kaminsky said. “We’ve had a great season so far. We’ve haven’t really been tested like this many times like this. ... I think we’re going to learn a lot from it.”

After scoring a season-low 20 points in the first half, Wisconsin opened the second half with a 13-4 run to close to 35-33. Kaminsky made three baskets during the spree and Josh Gasser made Wisconsin’s second 3-pointer of the game.

After Maryland pushed the margin back to six, Dekker made two 3-pointers and Nigel Hayes made one 3 to bring the Badgers to 45-44 with eight minutes remaining.

The game was tied at 47 before Wells made four straight free throws to put Maryland ahead for good. His dunk made it 53-48 with four minutes to go.

Wells scored 14 points in the first half, and Maryland limited Wisconsin to 30 percent shooting (1-of-11 from beyond the arc) in taking a 3120 lead.

It was the fewest points scored by the Badgers in the first half this season, and marked the first time they trailed after 20 minutes since Dec. 3 in a loss to Duke.