Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and had five assists to lead Maryland to a 76-68 win over No. 17 Wisconsin on Wednesday in College Park, Md.
Rodney Rice also added 16 points, and Selton Miguel contributed 12 points with four 3-pointers, helping Maryland (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) continue their winning streak to four games.
Julian Reese scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Derik Queen finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, helping Maryland defeat a Wisconsin team that had won eight of its last nine games.
Both teams came into the game as top 20 teams in offensive efficiency (according to KenPom.com), but the game turned into a defensive battle until Maryland heated up midway through the second half.
Maryland found success with 3-point shooting, hitting 12 of 24 (50 percent) from beyond the arc, even though they made just 40 percent of their shots overall.
John Tonje led Wisconsin (16-5, 6-4) with 23 points and six rebounds, but the Badgers struggled offensively, shooting only 37.3 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent (9 of 27) from 3-point range.
While Tonje made 5 of 8 from 3-point range, his teammates only managed to hit 4 of 19.
Maryland was down 48-43 with 11 minutes left but went on an 11-point run, with 3-pointers from Rice, Gillespie, and DeShawn Harris-Smith, to take a 54-48 lead, which they held onto for the rest of the game.
Steven Crowl, who finished with 10 points, scored a three-point play with 6:24 remaining, and Nolan Winter added a layup to pull Wisconsin to within 57-56. However, Gillespie responded with a jumper, and Reese followed with a three-point play to help Maryland regain control.
Wisconsin led for most of the first half, going up by as much as 23-16 when Winter scored five straight points. But in the final five minutes of the half, Rice, Miguel, and Tafara Gapare hit 3-pointers, allowing Maryland to take a 32-31 lead at halftime.
Much of Maryland’s run came when Wisconsin’s top scorers, Tonje and John Blackwell, were on the bench with two fouls each. Blackwell, who didn’t score in the first half, finished with 10 points after the break. His 3-pointer helped Wisconsin go on a 9-0 run early in the second half, putting them up 42-36 before Maryland took control of the game.
