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Wisconsin men's basketball knocks off Maryland 64-59

The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team wins their Big Ten opener over Maryland by five.

Matt Belz

In this story:

Coming off a crucial road win over in-state rival Marquette over the weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team (7-2 overall, 1-0 B1G) entered Tuesday night's matchup with Maryland looking to notch their first Big Ten win of the 2022-2023 season.

Entering the game as slight homecourt favorites against the No. 13 ranked Terrapins, the Badgers would cover the spread and finish with a 64-59 win at the Kohl Center. 

Here's a look back at Wisconsin's five-point win over Maryland. 

Contents

  1. Game recap
  2. Players of note
  3. Instant Analysis
  4. Photos of the game
  5. Up next

Game recap

Rolling with the same starting five as they have in every game, the Badgers got off to a good start by scoring the first points of the game on a baby hook from Steven Crowl in the paint. 

After a Hakeem Hart floater to get Maryland on the scoreboard, Max Klesmit would deliver a corner three for Wisconsin to give the Badgers an early 5-2 lead through three minutes of play. 

Led by some stellar ball movement by UW, the Badgers would go on to make five of their next six shot attempts to open up a 13-6 lead at the first media timeout with all five starters contributing with at least two points of offense. 

Coming out of the timeout, Donta Scott of Maryland and Chucky Hepburn of Wisconsin would trade three-point makes. After another field goal by the Terps, the Badgers would push their lead up to 10 points on five straight points by Jordan Davis and 64% shooting from the floor as a team. 

Julian Reese would snap an extended scoring drought for Maryland with a made jumper, but Wisconsin would get a big dunk by Steven Crowl on the next possession as the Badgers beat Maryland's full-court trap. Connor Esseigan would follow that up with a pair of free throws after the next media timeout to give Wisconsin a 25-13 edge with just over seven minutes left to play in the first half. 

Over the next three minutes, the Terrapins would cut into the deficit with four-straight field goals to make it a 27-23 game with 3:33 remaining on the clock. The Badgers went over two minutes without a made basket, while Maryland rallied with an 8-0 run. 

Following another made three by the Terps to draw within a single point, reserve forward Carter Gilmore would end the Wisconsin scoring drought with a layup to extend the lead back to 29-26 with just over a minute to go. 

Donald Carey would connect on a three-pointer on the other end to tie the game up, but the Badgers would respond with a beautiful inbounds play to free Tyler Wahl for an easy layup. Wisconsin center Steven Crowl would proceed to come up with a big stop at the other end to preserve a 31-29 advantage heading into halftime. 

After the break, the Terrapins would gain an early lead as the Badgers struggled to convert on the free throw line, missing three of four attempts from the charity stripe in the first two minutes of action. 

Wisconsin would regain the lead moments later on a three-point play by Chucky Hepburn and a layup by guard Max Klesmit, but from there, the two teams would struggle to find their footing on offense. The Badgers would manage to take a 41-40 advantage into the second media timeout, as Tyler Wahl led the way for Wisconsin. 

Coming out of the media timeout, Maryland would grab a one-point lead, but Carter Gilmore would respond with a big three-pointer just before the midway point of the second half to re-establish a 45-43 edge in favor of Wisconsin. 

Donald Carey and Maryland would respond with a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 45, but freshman guard Connor Essegian would bring the Wisconsin crowd to their feet with a huge corner three to give the Badgers a 3-point lead with seven minutes remaining in the game. 

Following a pair of free throws by Carter Gilmore, Connor Essegian would connect on another three for Wisconsin to push the UW lead to eight with six minutes to play. Maryland guard Jahmir Young would trim the lead to six points with back-to-back free throws, as the two teams scrapped to end field goal droughts. 

Chucky Hepburn would do just that for the Badgers. The sophomore point guard would bury a critical three with just under four minutes remaining to give Wisconsin a 56-47 lead. 

Steven Crowl would add to the lead on the free throw line coming out of the media timeout, but the Terps would finally get things going with consecutive three-pointers by Jahmir Young and Donald Carey to snap a streak of 10 straight misses. 

Chucky Hepburn would end the 6-0 run for Maryland there with two free throws to make it a seven-point game with two minutes to play in regulation. 

Over the final minutes of the game, the Terrapins would make it interesting with another big three from Young, but the Badgers would manage to hold on for a 64-59 win at the Kohl Center with a great steal by Chucky Hepburn as the game clock expired.  

Players of note

  • Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin)

Stats: 13 points (4-of-8 shooting), four rebounds, and two assists in 36 minutes

Coming into the contest averaging just shy of 20 points per game over his last three games, Chucky Hepburn once again put together a strong showing against Maryland. The sophomore point guard paced the Badgers on Tuesday night with 13 points and was efficient from the floor shooting 50% and also dishing out two assists in the win. 

  • Steven Crowl (Wisconsin)

Stats: 12 points (4-of-7 shooting), six rebounds, and three assists in 29 minutes

Working with a big height advantage against Maryland, Steven Crowl went to work inside for the Badgers. In the first half, the 7-foot center led the way with eight points and four rebounds, and ultimately finished the game with 

On a night when Wisconsin wanted to avoid a fast-paced game, the Badgers made an effort to go inside with their junior center and he did a great job of not only scoring with 12 points but also kicking it out to teammates with three assists. UW made 20 shots and 14 assists, and a big reason for that was the ability of Wisconsin to get the ball into the post. 

  • Carter Gilmore (Wisconsin)

Stats: 7 points (2-of-4 shooting), three rebounds, and one assist in 23 minutes

The Badgers got a big game off the bench from Carter Gilmore. The former walk-on took advantage of Maryland sagging off of him on the offensive end, and he came up with some big effort plays to help the team out on both ends of the court. 

While his production was not overly flashy, he got a big ovation from the crowd on Tuesday night for a reason. 

  • Jahmir Young (Maryland)

Stats: 17 points (6-of-13 shooting), four rebounds, and two steals in 30 minutes

Not a lot went right for Maryland on Tuesday night, but senior guard Jahmir Young did his best to keep the Terps in it with a game-high 17 points. He was 3-of-5 from three-point range but did finished with three turnovers. 

Instant Analysis

The Wisconsin Badgers got off to a white-hot start, making 10 of their first 18 shot attempts and holding Maryland to just 1-of-7 shooting from three to begin the game. As a result, the Badgers jumped out to a 10-point lead early in the game. However, the defensive effort did not last for UW, as Maryland found their rhythm over the final seven minutes of the first half to close the gap to just three points. Wisconsin's early lead was largely generated by some excellent ball movement on offense and great defense, but both aspects slipped as the first half wore on, with Maryland making four of their final six threes in the first 20 minutes.  

In the second half, the Badgers did a much better job on the defensive end, holding Maryland to just 33% shooting in the second half. Wisconsin struggled from the free throw line, only making 17-of-27 attempts to allow the Terrapins to stay in the game, but in the end, the Badgers were able to do enough to come away with the win. UW got a strong performance off the bench from Carter Gilmore and Connor Essegian, and ultimately Wisconsin's ability to clamp down on the defensive end helped them secure their first Big Ten win of the season. 

Photos of the game

Tyler Wahl / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Tyler Wahl attempting to block a shot against Maryland guard Jahmir Young. 

Steven Crowl / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Steven Crowl passing the ball out of the low post against Maryland. 

Tyler Wahl / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Tyler Wahl shooting a three-pointer in the first half against Maryland. 

Max Klesmit / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit attempting to grab the ball while falling down against Maryland. 

Greg Gard / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard wearing a red vest to honor Dick Bennett. 

Julian Reese / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Maryland forward Julian Reese laying the ball in against Wisconsin at the Kohl Center. 

Jordan Davis / Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Jordan Davis passing the basketball against Maryland. 

Up next

The Badgers will head back out on the road this weekend for a Big Ten battle with the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, December 11. The game will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. CST and be aired on Big Ten Network. 

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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