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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The last time the Wisconsin Badgers were in the Xfinity Center, on Feb. 24, 2015, they were 25-2, ranked No. 5 in the country, featured a locked-in player-of-the-year favorite in Frank Kaminsky, played the most fluid and unstoppable offense in recent college basketball history and were coached by Bo Ryan. They lost that day. A little less than a year later, a very different Badgers team met a very different Maryland team -- one ranked No. 2 in the country and unbeaten at home -- and got a very different result, a 70-57 victory on Saturday. Here's how it happened -- and what it means: For once, Maryland couldn't find a way to win Mark Turgeon's postgame news conferences have taken on a recurring theme in recent weeks, as the Terrapins have racked up wins despite consistently failing to put forth their best. Turgeon has been proud that his team keeps "finding ways to win" -- that's a common phrase -- with quality defense and opportunistic plays down the stretch. Until the Terps become the best version of themselves, however, they are unlikely to reach their tantalizing ceiling -- and, worse, likely to end up on the wrong side of the box score when the final buzzer sounds. At some point, a loss was inevitable. Saturday was that loss. After a horrible offensive performance in the first half, the Terrapins were more energetic and urgent -- even frantic -- in the second half. But every time they tried to make a run, the Badgers had an answer on the other end. Maryland cut Wisconsin's lead to six with 10:48 to play, and the crowd went wild, only to quiet after a Badgers free throw, defensive stop and a floating jumper from Bronson Koenig lengthened the margin once more. Diamond Stone had a dunk at 9:14 -- at which point Maryland missed two 3s and Koenig buried one on the other end. At the 4:18 mark, coming out of a timeout, Jake Layman hit a corner 3, and Vitto Brown buried one for Wisconsin just 30 seconds later. At that point, Maryland fans, so unrelentingly hopeful the big run would come, admitted to themselves that this was the one -- the game their team wouldn't be able to steal at the end. By the time Brown stamped Wisconsin's win with a fast-break dunk in the closing minute, many of them were already gone.
Maryland finished the first 20 minutes averaging 0.66 points per possession. They turned it over nine times in 31 trips. They went long stretches without scoring, missing interior looks or simply not getting them in the first place. If it wasn't for Rasheed Sulaimon's 3-for-3 mark from beyond the arc, the damage would have been far worse -- and the half still ended on a 29-7 run by the Badgers that turned an early 14-7 Maryland lead into the 36-21 score the Terps would have to battle back from. Turgeon was happy to acknowledge these problems. It was a positive thought: Just imagine how good the Terps would be when the offense started clicking. By the final buzzer Saturday, Turgeon was still imagining.
On Thursday, Joe Lunardi's latest bracket listed Wisconsin among the first four teams just outside the current field. BracketMatrix.com's aggregated projections agreed. Wherever the Badgers land in any given bracket, there's no disputing they are very much on the bubble. They need drastic measures to change that fact before Selection Sunday. Saturday more than qualifies. It's one thing to knock off a top-five team on your home floor. It's another thing to steal a rare win from one on the road. It's another entirely to dominate such a game from start to finish, to play balanced and intelligent offense, despite a 4-for-12 outing from star forward Nigel Hayes, and play hard-edged defense en route to demoralizing a prospective No. 1 seed in its own building. Saturday marked Wisconsin's seventh straight victory. It was by far their best -- and, perhaps, the one that will propel them toward the NCAA tournament once and for all.
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