Junior guard Eric Ayala scored all 17 of his points in the second half and junior guard Aaron Wiggins added 15 points as the Maryland men’s basketball team beat No. 6 Wisconsin, 70-64, at Kohl Center on Monday night.
The win marks the Terps’ first victory over a top-10 team since an upset of No. 3 Iowa on Jan. 28, 2016, and just the program’s third such win since joining the Big Ten in 2014. The last time Maryland beat a top-10 team on the road was Jan. 19, 2008, when it upset No. 1 North Carolina, 82-80, in Chapel Hill. The Terps had lost 17 consecutive true road games against Associated Press top-10 teams entering Tuesday’s game.
Maryland (6-3, 1-2 Big Ten) responded from a shooting slump that lasted from the 3:37 mark of the first half to the 16:14 mark of the second half — 11 straight missed shot attempts — to make nine straight field goals over almost seven minutes en route to picking up its first conference win of the season, and the first over a Power Five opponent.
The Terps shot 64% from the field in the second half and made 11 of their final 12 field-goal attempts.
After a 73-70 loss to Purdue on Christmas Day in which Maryland missed 11 of 21 free throws, the Terps made 12 of 15 from the free-throw line against Wisconsin (8-2, 2-1 Big Ten) and several late to hold off a late comeback bid.
Wisconsin took a 20-17 lead with 5:30 left in the first half with a 6-0 run, prompting Maryland coach Mark Turgeon to call a timeout. The Terps responded well afterward, with a dunk by senior guard Darryl Morsell cutting the Badgers’ lead to 25-24 with 3:37 remaining. But that slam would be the final field goal of the half for either team.
Maryland missed its final five field-goal attempts and went scoreless for the remainder of the first half. Wisconsin didn’t score over the final 3:58 but a trio of made free throws by senior guard D’Mitrik Trice gave the Badgers a 28-24 lead at halftime.
Both teams shot 10-for-27 from the field in the first half but Wisconsin made just five of 10 free throws. The Badgers missed seven of 15 for the entire game.
Maryland’s offensive struggles continued into the second half, with a post layup from Ayala breaking the streak of 11 straight missed shots.
Out of the under-16 media timeout, with his team down 34-28, a savvy adjustment from Turgeon, switching from man-to-man to a full-court press and then 3-2 zone defense, sparked an 8-0 run. Wiggins intercepted a pass for a breakaway dunk to tie the game at 34 with 13:29 left.
A 3-pointer by junior forward Jairus Hamilton gave Maryland a 54-52 lead with 5:09 remaining and the Terps did not trail for the remainder of the game.
