With eight wins in its last nine games, No. 17 Wisconsin is in high gear as it faces the most daunting stretch of its Big Ten schedule, playing four of its next five games on the road.
With Maryland (16-5, 6-4) first up for Wisconsin (16-4, 6-3) in that stretch Wednesday night in College Park, Md., Badgers coach Greg Gard is downplaying the challenge.
“I never make a big deal, home or road,” he said. “If you zero in on what you’re supposed to be doing, what happens outside the lines doesn’t matter, whether it’s crowd noise for you or against you, you still have to go play.”
The Badgers have done that extraordinarily well since losing three straight games in early December. In their last nine games, their lone loss came Jan. 21 at UCLA, 85-83. Wisconsin followed with an 83-55 domination of Nebraska on Sunday.
Wisconsin, which is tied with Duke for the No. 7 ranking in the nation in offensive efficiency (KenPom.com), has been fueled by stellar shooting from 3-point range. In the last two games, the Badgers have made 32 of 67 shots (47.8 percent) from long distance.
Wisconsin’s top two scorers — John Tonje, who averages 18 points per game, and John Blackwell (16.3) — have led the long-range assault. While Tonje has hit 11 of 18 shots (61.1 percent) from deep in the last two games, Blackwell has made 7 of 14 (50 percent).
But all the Badgers can shoot. Each of their nine rotation players who average double-digit minutes has made at least eight triples this year.
Gard says Wisconsin’s advantage from the arc is “part system” and “part players.”
Maryland enters Wednesday on an upswing as well after winning two Big Ten games on the road following four frustrating conference road losses, none by more than six points.
But the Terrapins broke through last Thursday with a 91-70 upset of then-No. 17 Illinois, followed by a 79-78 win at Indiana on Sunday as Rodney Rice hit a game-winning 3-pointer with seven seconds left.
“We’ve been on a really good learning process this whole year,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said. “My big thing the last two weeks was, let’s just get better and learn how to win on the road.”
Against Illinois, Maryland’s frontcourt players excelled, with Julian Reese producing 27 points and 17 rebounds and Derik Queen contributing 25 points.
Against Indiana, it was the backcourt that propelled the win as Rice scored 23 points, Ja’Kobi Gillespie delivered 18 points and nine assists, and Selton Miguel added 15 points. The trio made a combined 12 of 23 shots (52.2 percent) from 3-point range.
Maryland is 4-0 at home against Big Ten teams this season. But Wisconsin hasn’t flinched in the past, winning two of the last three meetings in College Park and leading the overall series 11-6.
“We’re flying around on a private, chartered plane,” Gard said. “We’ll have some nice box meals for us Tuesday afternoon when we fly to Maryland, stay in a good hotel. We’re flying around playing basketball. There’s much more difficult things in life that you can be doing.”
–Field Level Media
