The Wisconsin Badgers dominated the Maryland Terrapins 78-45 on Wednesday, overcoming a slow start to secure a blowout on Senior Night at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin honored seniors Nick Boyd, Braeden Carrington, Andrew Rohde, and Isaac Gard before the game, and each earned loud standing ovations from the Kohl Center crowd near the end of the game. Overall, the team improved to 21-9 on the season and 13-6 in Big Ten play with just one game to go.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s win over
Maryland on Wednesday.
Slow start
For some reason, the Badgers just can’t get consistency with their starts to the game. After a phenomenal start against the Washington Huskies, Wisconsin struggled mightily against a worse Maryland squad to start on Wednesday.
At the sub-12 media timeout, the Badgers were trailing 10-8, hitting just one of their past 12 field goals, as they started the game 3 of 15 from the field and 0 of 9 from three-point range.
We see games like these from the Badgers against opponents they should be much better against. Maryland didn’t look like it belonged on the court in those early minutes, and yet still led over Wisconsin after the first eight minutes.
Usually, when those slow starts come, it’s a factor of issues: defensive struggles, inefficient three-point shooting, and not enough attention at the rim.
Wisconsin wasn’t playing poorly defensively, but they were not getting to the rim much after an early John Blackwell drive and short jumper in the first two-ish minutes. Now, some of the shots they missed from deep were good looks, and Wisconsin needs to keep shooting those.
But the slow starts can certainly be a kryptonite when it comes to March, and you’d hope the Badgers would be more consistent at this point in the season.
One recurring issue that popped up offensively: Wisconsin’s struggles against the zone. The Badgers are generally a team that moves the ball well, and with their shooters, you’d think they’d find a better way to break down zone defenses.
But for some reason, Wisconsin continues to struggle when seeing those zone looks initially, and that came again on Wednesday. They don’t move the ball well enough, don’t get enough paint touches, and that leads to late shot clocks and poorer shot selection.
We know what Wisconsin can be in March, and that’s dangerous. But we also see the inconsistencies in games where that shouldn’t be happening.
Carrington strikes again
Braeden Carrington has been the sparkplug off the bench this season for the Badgers, and that was seen best on Saturday when the Wisconsin guard had 32 points and nine threes, setting a program record.
Well, Carrington didn’t stop his onslaught on Wednesday, coming out firing with 13 first-half points (a three at the halftime buzzer was waved off). He was aggressive, getting to the rack while also finding his shots from deep, both in the halfcourt and in transition.
In the second half, Carrington added another five points and two rebounds, finishing the game with 18 points on 6 of 10 from the field and 4 of 8 from three. While the three-point shooting has been huge, it’s the aggressive mentality of Carrington that has really fueled this Badgers squad on both ends of the court.
With Jack Janicki out for the foreseeable future, Wisconsin cut down its rotation and essentially ran with eight players on Wednesday, putting more responsibility on Carrington. He’s taken the uptick in minutes in stride and has really been getting hot at the right time for the Badgers.
Game of runs
If we talk about Wisconsin’s slow starts, we also have to talk about the Badgers’ ability to stabilize, which usually comes in the form of runs.
Facing a slower-paced Maryland team that struggles to score, runs were going to be Wisconsin’s biggest chance at blowing this one wide open.
After their slow start, where they trailed 10-8 at the sub-12 timeout, Wisconsin quickly went on an 8-0 run to retake the lead, and they never relinquished it from there. Braeden Carrington was a big part of that, hitting a three and driving for a layup to cap the run.
From there, Wisconsin slowly built on its lead throughout the first half to take a 34-21 lead into halftime, finishing the period on a 13-5 run.
The Badgers are at their best, though, when they can carry their success into the second half and start strong there. That’s exactly what happened on Wednesday, as Wisconsin went on an early 11-0 run in the period to take a 45-24 lead after five minutes. And the game never really felt competitive from there.
To really cap things off, the Badgers went on another 9-0 run up 20 points to stretch their lead to 63-34. They ultimately won 78-45, finishing things off strong at the Kohl Center.
