MADISON, Wis. – Home cooking was just what the University of Wisconsin needed to shake off its road weariness.

Graduate forward Tyler Wahl continued his resurgent hot streak with a team-high 18 points and the Badgers delivered with some second-half defense and timely free throws down the stretch to earn a 74-70 victory over Maryland at the Kohl Center Tuesday.

All five starters scored at least eight points for Wisconsin (18-9, 10-6 Big Ten), which hit double-digit Big Ten wins for the 20th time in the last 23 seasons. Seven of those conference wins have come at home, where it improved to 13-2 on the season.

With four games left in the regular season, Wisconsin sits in solo third place in the conference, a half-game ahead of Northwestern and a full game up on Michigan State. The Badgers hold the tiebreaker over both opponents in the race to finish in the top four of the Big Ten and earn a double bye in next month’s Big Ten Tournament.

Maryland (14-13, 6-10) possessed the top defense in the conference and one of the best units in the country, but the Badgers’ starters found ways to be productive.

In addition to Wahl’s points, Max Klesmit added 16 points, Chucky Hepburn added 11 points and four rebounds, A.J. Storr shook off an up-and-down night to record 10 points and eight rebounds, while Steven Crowl had eight points and eight rebounds but five turnovers and four fouls.

John Blackwell started to regain his offensive rhythm in leading the bench with nine points (7-for-9 FTs) in a reserve-high 14 minutes before fouling out.

Jahmir Young finished with a game-high 20 (6-for-17), while center Julian Reese added 18 for the Terrapins, which shot 46.2 percent but went over six minutes without a field goal to allow the Badgers to build a seven-point lead.

Ranked second-to-last in the league in scoring (66.6) and field goal percentage (39.8), Maryland made 5 of 6 over the final 91 seconds to keep the pressure on Wisconsin, but the Badgers went 17-for-19 from the line in the second half and 28-for-31 overall.

What it means: Wisconsin dropped out of the AP poll on Monday, three weeks after being ranked No.6 in the AP poll. The Badgers showed some grit and toughness against an undervalued Maryland team to guarantee a .500 league finish for the 24th time in the last 26 seasons.

Star of the game: Nine of Klesmit’s 16 points came in the final 56 seconds, including a clutch three-pointer with 56 seconds left and 6-for-6 from the line in the final 36 seconds. Klesmit was 3-for-20 from the perimeter over the last four games before that shot, but his bucket – the final one for UW – was a huge momentum swing after Maryland had cut the lead to four.

Stat of the game: Wisconsin repeatedly pounding the ball into the paint yielded results in the first half. The Badgers scored 18 points in the lane and went 11-for-12 from the foul line, shooting 12-for-17 on twos (70.6 percent), 54.5 percent overall, and averaging 1.19 points per possession.

Reason to be Concerned: Wisconsin has lost its second-half offense in consecutive games. The Badgers went from shooting 58.6 percent in the first half at Iowa to 37.0 percent in the second and had a similar drop against Maryland. UW shot 54.5 percent in the first half and 36.0 percent after halftime.

Don’t overlook: Being outrebounded in four of the last five games, Wisconsin finished plus-9 on the glass.

What’s next: Having its longest break between games since late December, Wisconsin will have a week off before traveling to Assembly Hall to face Indiana (6 pm./Peacock). The Hoosiers (14-11, 6-8) have lost two in a row and six of eight, including a 91-79 loss to UW on January 19. Indiana ranks 12th in the league in scoring offense and scoring defense. Wisconsin has won on eight of its last 12 trips to Bloomington.

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