Wisconsin Badgers fall to No. 19 Maryland 64-60

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Anthony Cowan Jr. hit a pivotal 3-pointer with 44 seconds left, and No. 19 Maryland edged Wisconsin 64-60 Monday night after blowing a 21-point lead in the second half.

Back in the AP Top 25 for the first time since early December, the Terrapins marked the occasion with a strange hot-and-cold performance against a perennial Big Ten contender before emerging with their sixth straight win.

Maryland (15-3, 6-1) led by 10 after eight minutes and 38-17 with 17:47 remaining before the Badgers (11-6, 3-3) roared back to take a 60-59 lead with 2:01 to go.

Cowan turned it around with his long-range jumper, and the Terps held on after Wisconsin's Nate Reuvers missed two 3-pointers in the final 33 seconds.

Despite making only four of 14 shots, Cowan scored 21 points on the strength of 11-for-13 free-throw shooting. Jalen Smith and Eric Ayala each scored 11 and Bruno Fernando had 10.

Wisconsin scored only 15 points in the first half on 7-for-26 shooting and was 0 for 10 from 3-point range before Reuvers ended the drought with 17:29 remaining.

After leading scorer Ethan Happ picked up his fourth foul with 10:38 left and Fernando made two free throws to make it 51-33, the Badgers looked done.

But Wisconsin roared back after Fernando was called for his fourth foul with 9:18 to go.

Using a stiff defense and long-overdue sharp shooting from beyond the arc, the Badgers went on a 24-6 run to pull even at 57 with three minutes remaining.

Reuvers scored a career-high 18 for Wisconsin. Happ finished with 10, half his season average.

Maryland got points from five different players and went 4 for 6 beyond the arc in bolting to a 24-10 lead. Cowan misfired on all five shots during the span, but his teammates went 8 for 11.

The Badgers went scoreless for nearly seven minutes before Happ made a put-back to snap a 9-0 run by the Terrapins.

But Cowan hit a jumper and Ayala followed with a 3-pointer to boost the margin to 17, and Fernando added four straight points to make it 33-13.

Big picture

Wisconsin: The Badgers finally faltered on the road with an uncharacteristically poor shooting performance for the opening 30 minutes. Wisconsin had won five straight Big Ten road games dating back to last season, including victories at Iowa and Penn State in 2018-19.

Maryland: The Terps survived an almost unforgivable collapse at home. If not for a 24-for-29 outing at the foul line, this one might have derailed a season that seemingly was headed in the right direction. It was a sharp reversal of form by Maryland, which trailed at halftime in three of its previous four victories before rallying.

Up next

Wisconsin: Hosts No. 2 Michigan on Saturday. The Badgers have beaten six Top 10 teams in four seasons under coach Greg Gard.

Maryland: Faces Ohio State on the road Friday night. The Buckeyes have lost three straight following a 12-1 start.