No.17 Wisconsin (16-4, 6-3 Big Ten) vs. Maryland (16-5, 6-4 Big Ten)

Date/Time – Wednesday, January 29, 6 p.m.

Arena – Xfinity Center (17,950)

Watch – Big Ten Network (Jason Horowitz, Robbie Hummel, Andy Katz)

Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch), Sirius 106 or 195, stream online on iHeartRadio.

Series – Wisconsin leads 15-8 (Maryland leads 5-4 in College Park)

Last Meeting - Wisconsin won, 87-56, on March 14, 2024, in Minneapolis

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Betting line: Maryland -3.5

Player to Watch: John Tonje ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 18.0 ppg, second in the conference in shooting 92.5 percent at the foul line, and is second on UW at 39.4 percent on three-point field goals.

Player to watch: Reese was named the Associated Press player of the week after two impressive road performances. After career-highs of 27 points and 17 rebounds in Maryland’s 91-70 rout at then-No.17 Illinois, Reese had 14 points and 10 rebounds in a 79-78 win at Indiana. The back-to-back double-doubles give Reese nine for the season, tied for most in the Big Ten heading into the week.

Wisconsin owns a 10-6 lead in the all-time series since Maryland joined the Big Ten in 2015, including wins in seven of the last nine meetings and both meetings last season.

Wisconsin is 10-5 against the Terrapins with Greg Gard as head coach, including a record of 3-3 under Gard in College Park.

Steven Crowl has reached double figures in three of his last four games vs. Maryland, including 17 points in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament. Max Klesmit tallied 16 points in last season's meeting in Madison.

Wisconsin averages 82.5 points per game, which would rank third in UW history and the highest since the school-record 86.3 ppg in 1970-71.

Wisconsin ranks 7th in the nation in offensive efficiency per KenPom. UW's mark of 123.0 would rank as the school's second-highest mark in the KenPom era (1997), trailing only the 129.0 mark of the 2014-15 national runner-up team.

Wisconsin is playing at its fastest pace in at least at least 30 years according to KenPom's adjusted tempo, averaging 1.3 possessions more than the 2021-22 team. The Badgers are ranked 151st in the nation in tempo.

The Badgers have three of the Big Ten's top 20 FT shooters (min. 50 FTAs) in John Tonje (2nd, 92.5 percent), Max Klesmit (10th, 86.3), and John Blackwell (17th, 82.6). Each of UW's top seven scorers shoots over 80 percent at the line.

Wisconsin averages 15.3 assists per game (most since 1993-94) and 10.4 turnovers per game (fourth lowest in the Big Ten). With a 1.47 assist-to-turnover ratio, the Badgers have their third-best A-to-TO ratio in a season, trailing only the 2014-15 team (1.70) and the 2010-11 team (1.71).

Maryland has won three straight games, five of its last six, and has a pair of top-25 wins. The Terps also enter Wednesday with a 12-1 record at home having won nine consecutive games. The Terps are ranked No. 19 in the NCAA NET, No. 21 in the Kenpom ratings, No. 15 in the Torvik ranking, and No. 12 on EvanMiya.com.

Maryland averages 83.4 points per game which would be its best season scoring average since 2001-02 (85.0 ppg). For an entire season, Maryland has only averaged over 80 points three other times since 2000-01.

Maryland's averaging 8.2 threes per game, on track to be the best single-season average in school history. It’s a significant improvement from last season when Maryland made just 6.1 threes per game.

Through 21 games this season, Maryland has had five different players score 20-plus points in a single game, the most for the program since 2015-16. Overall, the Terps have had 22 20-point efforts.

Maryland shares the ball significantly better than a season ago averaging 15.5 assists per game, which is almost five more per game than in 2023-24. That is currently on pace to be the highest assist average since 2010-11 (16.9). Maryland has seven games with at least 17 helpers, including three with 25+ assists.

There are two ways to get an unproven roster ready for a college basketball season. The University of Wisconsin chose to break two new starters into the mix and multiple returning players in different roles playing a semi-tough nonconference schedule against top-ranked opponents and holiday tournament against two Power-Four conference teams. Maryland chose the opposite route with its revamped roster, playing one ranked opponent (Marquette) two neutral-site games in the New York/New Jersey area, and filling out the rest with home games against mid-major opponents, all of which give the Terrapins the nation’s easiest nonconference strength of schedule rating.

As the two schools meet for the only time in the regular season, it’s obvious that both approaches worked.

The Badgers are getting close to being a lock for the NCAA Tournament with a record of 9-4 in Quad 1/2 games with zero losses outside of Quad 1. The Terrapins are one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten and will have a ton of momentum going into tonight’s annual “Gold Rush” game.

Wisconsin’s Crowl and Winter will know what it will see in Reese, a double-double machine who has elevated his game like a returning senior starter should. Part of that improvement is the Terrapins’ addition of Queen. A consensus five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American, the 250-pound Queen has lived up to that billing since having 22 points and 20 rebounds in his first collegiate game. Reese and Queen have a combined 13 20-point games (seven for Queen, six for Reese) and 19 (12 for Reese) double-digit rebound games to lead the Terps

Maryland’s improving guard play makes the low-post play of Queen and Reese more effective. While the success at guard for the Terps last season depended largely on Jahmir Scott, Maryland coach Kevin Pollard brought in three transfers who made the Terrapins more versatile and multi-dimensional.

Gillespie (MVC All-Defensive team at Belmont) is ranked as the 10th best player nationally by EvanMiya.com measuring his impact on the team offensively and defensively. One of the top catch-and-shoot guards on the transfer market last offense, Gillespie has dropped at least 20 points against ranked opponents Marquette and UCLA and ranks sixth in the conference in assists. Miguel (the AAC Sixth Man of the Year at USF) has had three straight games of at least 13 points. Rice (Virginia Tech) hit the game-winning three-pointer at Indiana with 7.5 seconds remaining - part of his game-high 23 points and career-high five three-pointers made in the game.

Furthermore, all three guards have range. Their combined three-point percentage is 39.5 percent and their 132 made three-pointers (on 334 attempts) are the most for any team's trio in the Big Ten this year. Much like Greg Gard targeting specific players to fit into UW’s updated offense, Maryland coach Kevin Willard targeted all three guards because of their ability to catch-and-shoot threes at a clip of over 40 percent. As a result, Maryland and Wisconsin have offenses that force defenses to give up something.

“We're scoring the basketball, and when you score, it's just a little bit easier to play defense just because you can set your defense up a little bit better than when you're in transition,” said Willard, whose team ranked 34th nationally with 15.1 forced turnovers per game. “I got a good group of guys. They work hard and they understand that in this league that you're going to have to bring it defensively.”

Wisconsin might have the size advantage across the board and certainly the edge in experience, but this might be a lot to ask for a UW team that has fluctuated between above and below-average defense all season. Playing on the road against a team looking for a signature win in front of a sold-out crowd sounds like a tough ask.

Worgull’s Prediction: Maryland by 9

Record: 16-4 (15-5 ATS)

Points off Prediction: 170 (8.5 per game)

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