Wisconsin (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) vs. Maryland (14-12, 6-9)
Game: Tuesday, Feb. 19 at the Kohl Center
Time: 8:00 P.M. CT
Watch: Peacock
Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio
Prediction: Wisconsin 73, Maryland 67
Follow Online: The Badgers' Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz
Betting line: Wisconsin -7.5 (according to ESPN BET)
PRE-GAME NOTES
The Wisconsin Badgers have just five games remaining on their regular season schedule.
Their final regular season game is less than three weeks away. The NCAA Tournament is less than a month away. Yet Wisconsin is not in the position anybody would like to be in with such little time left.
Three teams with losing records in the Big Ten have beaten the Badgers in the past 14 days. On Tuesday night in the Kohl Center, Maryland could become the fourth.
The Terps are led by coach Kevin Willard, who’s in his second season with the program after spending 13 years at Seton Hall.
In Willard’s first offseason, he took advantage of the transfer portal and brought in Jahmir Young — one of the most talented and dynamic, yet volatile, players in the Big Ten.
Young, now a fifth-year senior, is the third leading scorer in the conference, averaging 21.2 points per game, but is also the leader in turnovers per game at 2.9.
The Badgers happen to be facing him during one of the worst stretches of his career, efficiency-wise. Over their last four games, he’s averaging an impressive 22.7 points per game… on 30.5% shooting from the field.
Young could effectively put the Terps on his back and beat the Badgers by himself, but he could also easily shoot them out of the game.
Willard would be wise to lean more heavily on Julian Reese, the junior forward who has slowly proven himself to be a capable scorer.
He’s grown to be one of the best defenders in the conference, sitting at fourth in the Big Ten in blocks per game with 2.0. In their past four games, Reese has quietly averaged 16.5 points while shooting over 70% on three of those nights.
The Terps are ultimately in a tailspin of their own, having lost three of their past four. Yet their lone win came against Iowa, the team that Wisconsin most recently lost to.
It almost doesn’t matter who the Badgers play at this point — they seem incredibly vulnerable regardless.
Perhaps a return home after a troubling road trip could provide some much-needed relief, in the same vein as the game against Ohio State last week.
They’ll need some sort of extra breath after their most recent outing, in which they fell to Iowa in overtime on Saturday afternoon, 88-86.
It felt like one of the most grueling and relentless games of Wisconsin’s season. They scored 46 points in the paint, shot 43.8% from 3, at one point held a 13-point lead — and still lost. It was another installment of what has been a February from hell.
Among their numerous issues, defense feels paramount, especially after the recent game. In their five recent losses, they’re giving up an average of 78.6 points per game. They even allowed Iowa to shoot 52.6% from the field.
Tuesday could be an opportunity for Wisconsin’s best defender this season — Chucky Hepburn — to make a statement and lead by example. He just held Iowa’s best scorer, Tony Perkins, to 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting. If Hepburn can contain Young and make him as uncomfortable as he made Perkins, that could eliminate most of Maryland’s offense.
Wisconsin’s frontcourt must also lead by example.
Tyler Wahl was instrumental in leading the Badgers back at the end of regulation and forcing overtime. Yet he was also in foul trouble for virtually the entire game and even fouled out during the extra period.
A.J. Storr put up 21 points, but it took him 18 field goal attempts to get there. This was only a game after the Badgers won with Storr only shooting nine times, which led to Greg Gard complimenting his discipline after the game. Storr can’t expect to win any games by himself, especially when recent history has shown that it’s unlikely.
Regardless, Wisconsin stands at a crossroads. The time remaining to improve is dissipating.
If they can’t shape up within these last few weeks, then they probably never should’ve been taken seriously to begin with.
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