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STAT PACK: No.23 Wisconsin Hangs On to Beat Maryland, 70-69.

Playing its third game in a week, No.23 Wisconsin appeared to be on cruise control in building a 21-point lead in less than 12 minutes, carrying the momentum from two big victories last week.

But when the Badgers took the foot off the gas, Tyler Wahl helped push the car to the finish line.

The junior forward scored a career-high 21 points, including 12 in the second half, to help the Badgers survive and escape with a 70-69 victory over Maryland at the Xfinity Center.

Sophomore Johnny Davis scored 19 points in a rare supporting role for the Badgers (13-2, 4-1 Big Ten), which went 3-0 in the past week with road wins over No.3 Purdue and Maryland sandwiched around their home win over Iowa.

We take a closer look at the game in the BadgerBlitz StatPack.

Brad Davison scored 11 points, including four big free throws in the final 29 seconds.
Brad Davison scored 11 points, including four big free throws in the final 29 seconds. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)
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- The victory marked the eighth win this season for Wisconsin in games decided by six points or fewer (8-1)

- Behind Wahl and Davis, Wisconsin shot 44.6 percent from the floor, 5-for-20 from 3-point range, and 15-for-18 from the free throw line.

- Brad Davison (11) was the third Wisconsin player in double figures. Other scorers included Steven Crowl (9), Jordan Davis (3), Chucky Hepburn (3), Carter Gilmore (2), and Chris Vogt (2).

- After having a full roster for two straight games, Wisconsin was without junior Jahcobi Neath who missed the game with what was classified as a lower-body injury.

- Maryland (8-7, 0-4) put five players in double figures, including 19 points from Eric Ayala. The Terps finished 45.5 percent from the field, including 59.3 percent in the second half.

- The Terps won the rebounding battle (33-29), but the Badgers scored more second-chance points (8-3) and points in the paint (32-24).

- Wisconsin scored 18 points off 12 Maryland turnovers. The Badgers committed eight turnovers, only three coming in the second half.

- Wisconsin jumped out to a 7-0 lead with points on its first three possessions from three different players (Crowl, Wahl, Davis) in three different ways (layup, free throws, 3-pointer). The Badgers boosted their early lead to 13-4 when Davis hit a pullup jumper, giving up seven of UW’s points.

- Four players scored 10 points in the paint for Wisconsin in the first 7:06 of the game.

- UW’s defense was on point early. Maryland started 2-for-5 but then missed nine of its next 10 shots, committing four turnovers in a 4:30 span to dig a 20-6 deficit. UW went on a 10-0 run during that push.

- Leading 29-8, the Terrapins went on a 15-0 run over the next 4:52 to cut the lead to six entering the final media timeout. Scott scored eight points in the run, including a four-point play that injected some life into the crowd. UW attempted just five field goals in the dry spell that included two turnovers.

- The Badgers shot 50 percent in the first half but only led 33-26.

- UW started 1-for-7 in the second half and watched Fatts Russell and Ayala take over. Russell was 1-for-3 in the first half but hit his first two shots. Ayala had been 0-for-5 but hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, the latter giving the Terps their first lead, 36-35, with 15:27 remaining.

- Vogt tried to go high and knock away a defensive rebound but cost the Badgers their seventh team foul, putting the Terrapins in the bonus for the final 11:36. Maryland entered the night fifth in the Big Ten in FT shooting at 74 percent and was 7-for-8 up to that point. The Terps went 5-for-7 down the stretch, as UW committed only three fouls after that point.

- UW trailed by three on three occasions, but three straight possessions with second-chance points helped recreate momentum. One of the biggest plays was Wahl knocking a loose ball off Russell’s foot and then converting a dunk on the inbounds off a hard cut to the basket.

- Starting with those three second-chance possessions, Wisconsin scored on nine of the next 10 possessions. Wahl set a new career-high in scoring in that stretch, but it was Crowl – a 28.6 percent 3-point shooter – hitting a 3-pointer to put UW up 60-57 with just over four minutes left.

- Crowl also delivered one of UW’s biggest defensive stands when he stood tall outside the restricted circle and forced Ayala to attempt a low-percentage shot with 1:15 remaining and UW leading 64-61.

- Davison and Davis hit the front end of the bonus and the second free throw, keeping the lead at two possessions (68-64) with 20.8 seconds remaining.

- After Hakim Hart made a layup with 2:23 remaining, Maryland didn’t make its next field goal until 15.5 seconds remained.

- Making his first four free throws in the final 30 seconds, Davison missed his first with 3.9 seconds remaining and deliberately missed the second. With no timeouts, all Maryland could manage was a halfcourt heave that was well off the mark.

- After playing three games in a week, Wisconsin won’t play again until Thursday when it gets a rematch against Ohio State. The two teams will tip off at the Kohl Center at 6 p.m. and be televised on ESPN2.

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