
The Badgers hit the road for their third game of the week and will try and take down the Terps for a perfect 3-0 stretch.
The No. 23 Wisconsin Badgers (12-2 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) are back on the road for a Big Ten matchup with the Maryland Terrapins (8-6 overall, 0-3 Big Ten) on Sunday evening. This will be the only time these two teams meet this season, unless they see each other again in the Big Ten Tournament.
Taking on the Terrapins tonight pic.twitter.com/8iV6HPqMJS
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 9, 2022
UW is riding a four-game winning streak and have already won two games this week, on the road against No. 3 Purdue and at home against Iowa, while the Terps have lost their last two games (at Iowa, at Illinois) and five of their last eight. Maryland is 3-3 under interim coach Danny Manning this season and..oh yeah! You may not remember, but the Terps and former head coach Mark Turgeon “mutually agreed” to part ways earlier this year.
Maryland struggled with George Washington (a bad team), Hofstra and Richmond (two kinda ok teams) and lost to George Mason (at home, they’re an ok team too) while opening the year at 5-1. However, the lost to Louisville and Virginia Tech around Thanksgiving and then it was announced that Turgeon was out. Things had been going poorly for Turgeon for years (one Sweet 16 in 11 years at Maryland should be a criminal offense) and eventually the Maryland fan base/administration had enough.
The Terps don’t do a lot well, although they get to the free throw line a fair amount and don’t foul much on the other end, but they don’t do a lot terribly either, except force turnovers, they don’t really do that at all. Hakim Hart has been quite effective at finishing around the rim and he doesn’t need a lot of touches to be effective.
Transfer point guard Fatts Russell and transfer big man Qudus Wahab have been a tad underwhelming in their first season in College Park, although Russell is second on the team in points (12.5 ppg) and first in assists (3.7 apg) while Wahab is second in rebounding (7.0 rpg and leads the team with 60.5% field goal percentage. Wahab has struggled against top big guys, like Kofi Cockburn who fouled Wahab out in 10 minutes of action, but I don’t think Steven Crowl is the kind of player to do that.
Steve has been playing BIG!
Last 3 games for @steven_crowl: 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game pic.twitter.com/CBwhfxrnfe
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 8, 2022
Crowl is, however, a threat from beyond the arc and he should be able to pull Wahab away from the basket which should help UW’s offensive rebounding. Johnny Davis will be the focal point on offense (duh) but there will be room for players like Tyler Wahl and Chucky Hepburn to take advantage of their matchups and score in double figures.
Road games in the Big Ten are always tough, but the Badgers should return home with a win after this game.
How to watch/listen
TV: BTN, 6:30 p.m. CT, Cory Provus, Len Elmore
Streaming: FOX SPORTS App; Fox Sports
Radio/Satellite: WIBA 1310 AM, Sirius/XM 195; Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas
Live stats: Here!
Arena: Xfinity Center, College Park, Md.
DraftKings Line: Wisconsin -1
(Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.)
KenPom Wisconsin win percentage: 53%
Torvik Wisconsin win percentage: 57%
Fun facts (according to the media guides)
- Wednesday’s game will be meeting No. 19 between Wisconsin and Maryland in a series that dates back to 1931. The Badgers lead the all-time series, 11-7, but the Terrapins are 4-3 in games in College Park.
- Wisconsin owns a 6-5 lead in the series since Maryland joined the Big Ten.
- The Badgers have also won three of the last four games against the Terps.
- All but three of the 11 UW-UMD games since the Terps joined the Big Ten have been decided by single digits. The average margin of victory since 2015 is just 6.1 points per game.
Airplane Mode
Next Stop: Maryland pic.twitter.com/PxgyZHyopB
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 8, 2022
- Senior Brad Davison has scored in double digits in five of seven career meetings with Maryland, averaging 11.7 ppg against the Terps. Davison scored a game-high 21 points (4-of-6 3FGs) in a 2019 meeting with UM. In the only match-up of 2020, Davison’s heroics helped UW pull out a 56-54 win with a steal and 3-pointer in the final seconds.
- UW junior Jahcobi Neath played one season (2019- 20) under Maryland head coach Danny Manning while at Wake Forest.
- At 12-2, Wisconsin is off to its best start since opening the 2016-17 season 13-2. With their start, the Badgers are making the case for the nation’s best resume.
- Four Quad 1 wins, equaling the most in the NCAA; seven wins over Ken Pomeroy top-100 teams, which trails only Alabama (eight); five wins away from the Kohl Center, trailing only USC (seven), Auburn (six) and Michigan State (six) among major conference teams.
- The Badgers have four road wins against top-five opponents since 2012-13, tied for the most in the country.
- The Badgers are averaging 71.8 ppg, which would be the team’s second-highest mark of the Greg Gard era. UW is also playing at its fastest pace in over 20 years.
- UW ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten shooting 76.0% at the FT line and has made almost as many FTs (212) as its foes have attempted (216).
- Wisconsin ranks No. 2 in the NCAA in both lowest turnover percentage (12.1%) and fewest turnovers per game (8.2) this season.
- Johnny Davis is the only Big Ten player to lead his team in points (22.6 ppg), rebounds (7.3 rpg) and assists (2.8 apg).
- Davis has scored at least 20 points in six straight games, including a 37-point, 14-rebound masterpiece on the road at No. 3 Purdue (1/3).
National POY:
1. Johnny Davis, Wisconsin – 182 (15)
2. Kofi Cockburn, Illinois – 140 (3)
3. Ochai Agbaji, KU – 129
4. Benn Mathurin, Arizona – 96⁰5. EJ Liddell, Ohio St – 89 (1)⁰6. Keegan Murray, Iowa – 87
7. Wendell Moore, Duke – 68
8. Oscar Tshiebwe, UK – 62 https://t.co/2Wo4vHxljc— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) January 7, 2022
- Brad Davison is No. 6 in the Big Ten, averaging a career-best 2.4 triples per contest this season, while shooting 34.3% from behind the arc. He is also third in the Big Ten shooting 87.5% (49-of-56) at the FT line.
- Maryland’s Hakim Hart is second in the Big Ten in steals/g (1.79). The Terrapins are 7-0 when Hart notches at least two steals in a game this season.
- Graduate guard Fatts Russell is the only active player in Division I with more than 1,700 points, 450 assists and 225 steals. Among active Division I players, he currently ranks No. 7 in free throws made (466), No. 12 in steals (225), No. 25 in points (1,769) and No. 36 in assists (463).
- The Terrapins are 7-3 when Eric Ayala and Russell both score 10+ points
Potential Starters
Wisconsin
- Johnny Davis, 6-foot-5, sophomore, guard, No. 1
- Tyler Wahl, 6-foot-9, junior, forward, No. 5
- Steven Crowl, 7-foot, sophomore, forward, No. 22
- Chucky Hepburn, 6-foot-2, freshman, guard, No. 23
- Brad Davison, 6-foot-4, super senior, guard, No. 34
Maryland
- Fatts Russell, 5-foot-11, super senior, guard, No. 4
- Eric Ayala, 6-foot-5, senior, guard, No. 5
- Hakim Hart, 6-foot-8, junior, guard, No. 13
- Donta Scott, 6-foot-8, junior, forward, No. 24
- Qudus Wahab, 6-foot-11, junior, forward, No. 33
Status Update: Wisconsin @ Maryland
Jahcobi Neath (lower body) will not be active for the Badgers tonight
— brandon harrison (@brandonharrison) January 9, 2022