Report: 2021 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament to Be Relocated to Indianapolis
Feb 4, 2021
The seating area at Bankers Life Fieldhouse is empty as media and staff mill about, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Indianapolis, after the Big Ten Conference announced that remainder of the men's NCAA college basketball games tournament was cancelled. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
The 2021 Big Ten men's basketball tournament will change venues from the United Center in Chicago to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, according toRuss McQuaidof Fox 59. Play is expected to begin on March 10.
The Big Ten women's tournament is slated to begin a day earlier on March 9 at Indianapolis' Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The NCAA men's basketball tournament will take place across Indiana the following week, using gyms in West Lafayette, Bloomington and Indianapolis in order to create more of a bubble for teams and staff participating.
Both men's and women's Big Ten tournaments were held in Indianapolis last season, though the emergence of COVID-19 caused the conference to cancel men's play after the first round. The women's tournament was completed prior to the shutdown. Now, the city will get a chance to host the Big Ten once again, but any restrictions on attendance are still unclear.
This marks the 11th time Indiana has hosted the Big Ten tournament, with the conference alternating annually between Chicago and Indianapolis. That streak came to an end in 2017 as the league looked to incorporate its East Coast markets by holding the event at Capitol One Arena (then known as Verizon Center) in Washington, D.C., followed by Madison Square Garden in New York City the following year.
The conference returned to Chicago in 2019 and was set to alternate with Indianapolis until 2022. That plan has once again been altered by the pandemic.
This will be the first time Lucas Oil Stadium serves as the venue for the Big Ten tournament.
Fred Hoiberg Says COVID-19 Diagnosis Scared Him Because of Prior Heart Surgeries
Feb 3, 2021
FILE - In this March 5, 2020, file photo, Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg watches his team compete against Michigan during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Ann Arbor, Mich. Hoiberg did a near total remake of the roster in his first year at Nebraska, and the Cornhuskers finished the season on a school-record 17-game losing streak. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez, File)
Nebraska head men's basketball coach Fred Hoiberg said Tuesday that testing positive for COVID-19 last month concerned him because of a heart condition he has dealt with since birth.
Hoiberg, who was born with an abnormal aortic valve and underwent open-heart surgery in both 2005 and 2015, said the following about his COVID-19 diagnosis, per Eric Olson of the Associated Press: "I got a little scared, to be honest with you, just with everything I've had in my past with two open-heart surgeries and being fully dependent on a pacemaker. It concerned me. And I did have chest pains. That was the scary thing."
The 48-year-old coach noted that there were times after testing positive for COVID-19 that he experienced chest pains, which increased his worry.
Ultimately, Hoiberg said he didn't have to be hospitalized since his oxygen level remained within normal ranges and his fever never exceeded 101 degrees.
While Hoiberg has largely recovered since testing positive on Jan. 15, he noted that he lost 10 lbs. and has yet to regain his sense of smell.
The Cornhuskers experienced a COVID-19 outbreak within their program with nine players, a student manager, two assistant coaches, a graduate assistant and Hoiberg all testing positive.
As a result, each of Nebraska's past four games have been postponed, and the Huskers have not played a game since their 84-76 loss to Indiana on Jan. 10.
If Nebraska returns to action as scheduled against Michigan State on Saturday, it will mark the Huskers' first game in nearly a month.
Nebraska is 4-8 on the season with an 0-5 mark in Big Ten play during Hoiberg's second season as head coach.
Hoiberg, who was previously the head coach at Iowa State and for the NBA's Chicago Bulls, is looking to help the Huskers end a six-year NCAA tournament drought.
Iowa guard Joe Wieskamp (10) looks to pass as Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu and center Kofi Cockburn defend in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Holly Hart)
No. 7 Iowa fell to No. 19 Illinois 80-75 on Friday at State Farm Center, putting the Hawkeyes two games back of No. 4 Michigan for first place in the Big Ten.
Iowa (12-4) was playing for the first time since Jan. 21 because of a postponed contest against Nebraska earlier in the week. The extra rest didn't translate to a victory, even as star big man Luka Garza notched 19 points and four rebounds.
Instead it was Illinois' Ayo Dosunmu pouring in a game-high 25 points,while Trent Frazier added 24.
A late 7-0 run by Illinois put things too far out of reach, though Iowa had a chance to mount a stunning comeback with less than a minute remaining.
After a Jordan Bohannon three-pointer made it a one-possession game, Illinois committed a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds, giving the ball right back to the Hawkeyes with 11 seconds left. But Iowa rushed another three from Bohannon that clanked off the rim, and the Hawkeyes wouldn't get another opportunity to take the lead.
It was a massive victory for Illinois (11-5), which had dropped two of its last three heading into Friday's action. Prior to beating the Hawkeyes, the team's biggest win this season came over then-No. 10 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in early December. That was immediately followed by a loss to Missouri.
One of head coach Brad Underwood's biggest tasks moving forward will be making sure Illinois doesn't get too comfortable after knocking off Iowa—especially with matchups against No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 4 Michigan next week.
Iowa won't get much of a break either.
The Hawkeyes are set to play No. 13 Ohio State, Rutgers and two games against Michigan State in the next two weeks.
Michigan Athletics Shut Down for 2 Weeks Amid COVID-19 Spike
Jan 23, 2021
The University of Michigan football stadium is shown in Ann Arbor, Mich., Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. A crumbling college football season took a massive hit Aug. 11, when the Big Ten and Pac-12, two historic and powerful conferences, succumbed to the COVID-19 pandemic and canceled their fall football seasons. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The University of Michigan is shutting down all athletics programs for two weeks as COVID-19 cases surge, according to Ethan Sears of the Michigan Daily.
Per Sears, five cases of the B.1.1.7 variant of the virus have been confirmed within the athletics department, with 15 more tests presumed positive. The decision to pause athletics fell to the Michigan state health department. No other state schools are expected to be impacted by the order.
The pause will begin Sunday. All members of the athletic department will quarantine for up to 14 days.
The move comes after 22 student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19 this week, following 13 positive cases a week earlier.
Among the notable games likely to be impacted are the men's basketball contests against Indiana and Michigan State, two women's basketball games against Michigan State and two men's hockey games against Penn State.
According to Sears, UM has completed 87.2 percent of its scheduled athletic contests this season.
No. 4 Iowa Upset by Unranked Indiana Despite Luka Garza's 28 Points
Jan 21, 2021
Indiana guard Armaan Franklin drives to the basket past Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Down goes another Top 10 team. And yet again, it happened in shocking fashion.
Two days after No. 6 Tennessee was absolutely steamrolled by unranked Florida, Indiana pulled off a 81-69 upset over No. 4 Iowa on Thursday evening, led by a strong performance from Trayce Jackson-Davis and a 23-3 second-half run.
The @IndianaMBB Hoosiers are suffocating Luka Garza and his Hawkeyes. No FG’s in almost 8 minutes leading to an 18-2 run but the D has been incredible. They’re a very young team the Hoosiers and FT shooting still an issue. That said, it’s been a helluva performance.
Coming into the night, Indiana (9-6) was 0-4 against ranked opponents, making the upset all the more surprising. The 12-3 Hawkeyes, meanwhile, have now dropped a second Big Ten matchup, also losing to Minnesota.
Naismith Player of the Year candidate Luka Garza showed out yet again, but his teammates didn't offer much support, as Iowa shot just 21.7 percent from three (5-of-23) and struggled to consistently break down Indiana's defense.
Garza was the bigger name in this matchup, but Jackson-Davis more than held his own. Frankly, had he not gotten into foul trouble, he may have done even more damage.
Trayce Jackson-Davis has had a couple of tough whistles go his way tonight, for a player of his reputation and performance. He's got four now. #iubb
Trayce Jackson-Davis is one of the few players in college basketball this season who've been anywhere close to as good as Luka Garza. He's showing it tonight.
Jackson-Davis has the makings of being an All-American selection this season. He showed why on Thursday, carrying the Hoosiers until they went on a late run without him to close out the Hawkeyes.
Garza Couldn't Will Iowa to Victory
It's no surprise that Indiana struggled to contain Garza—he came into Thursday averaging 26.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. The dude is a problem.
Luka Garza had his 49th career 20-point game tonight, the most by a Big Ten player over the last 25 seasons.
However, Indiana notched its 3rd road win against an AP top-5 opponent in school history. The Hoosiers were 2-35 all-time on the road vs AP top-5 teams entering tonight. pic.twitter.com/TGVbgSQYPS
But when every player not named Garza or Wieskamp combines to score just 25 points, well, that's a different kind of problem. The sort that will make it very tough for Iowa to win games.
Iowa came into this game averaging 92.2 points per game, third in the nation, so this game is likely an aberration. Most nights, Bohannon isn't going to go 0-of-8 from three. Most nights, Iowa will sit closer to the 21.4 assists per game they average, tops in the nation, than the 14 they mustered Thursday.
Sometimes it's not your night, even when you have a superstar like Garza. Give the Hoosiers some credit—they played arguably their best defensive game of the season. But outside of Garza, Iowa was flat-out poor.
What's Next?
Iowa travels to No. 22 Illinois on Jan. 29 at 9 p.m. ET, while Indiana will look to build on its big win vs. Rutgers on Sunday at noon ET.
Fred Hoiberg Tests Positive for COVID-19; Nebraska HC to Self-Isolate
Jan 17, 2021
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 11: Head coach Fred Hoiberg of the Nebraska Cornhuskers looks on during a game against the Indiana Hoosiers in the first round of the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 11, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
Nebraska men's basketball coach Fred Hoiberg announced Sunday he has tested positive for COVID-19:
Hoiberg said he has been self-isolating since learning of his diagnosis. The 48-year-old noted he is experiencing symptoms, but his condition has improved.
The Cornhuskers had previously paused activities due to positive tests within the program and announced Sunday they will postpone games through at least Jan. 24. A total of 12 individuals, including seven players, are currently quarantining or in isolation due to safety protocols.
The Cornhuskers had already postponed games against Illinois and Maryland last week and will now miss games against Minnesota and Iowa. A Jan. 5 matchup against Purdue was also postponed, but the team returned to face Indiana on Jan. 10.
The next scheduled game is on Jan. 30 at home against Penn State.
Nebraska is currently 4-8 on the season and 0-5 in the Big Ten.
Hoiberg is in his second year with the program, going 7-25 during the 2019-20 season. He led Iowa State to the NCAA tournament four times in his five years with the program from 2010-15, twice winning the Big 12 Tournament. He left for the Chicago Bulls in 2015 and lasted parts of four seasons before being fired early in the 2018-19 campaign.
Michigan State vs. No. 5 Iowa Postponed Amid Spartans' COVID-19 Issues
Jan 13, 2021
Michigan State's logo is seen on Spartan Stadium before the start of an NCAA college football game between Michigan State and Tulsa, Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, in East Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)
Michigan State's men's basketball game against No. 5 Iowa scheduled for Thursday has been postponed because of issues related to COVID-19.
Guard Steven Izzo, the son of MSU head coach Tom Izzo, and his roommate, center Mady Sissoko, have both tested positive for the virus, per the coach. Both players are isolated and will not play for 17 days, per Big Ten protocols.
The two sides are working with the Big Ten to explore options for rescheduling the contest.
"I'm really disappointed, but it just goes to prove that this can affect anyone," Izzo said in a statement. "I feel so comfortable that me, my son and my players did everything possible and followed every protocol as best we could."
Coach Izzo tested positive for the virus in November.
In a release, Iowa said the schedule change was "mutually agreed upon out of an abundance of caution."
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Nebraska and Penn State are also paused as they deal with their own COVID-19 issues, according to Mark Emmert and Chad Leistikow of Hawk Central. The pair reported that Iowa had its own COVID-19 issues over the summer but has enjoyed a virus-free season.
Each Big Ten team has extra days off in its schedule as all of the teams aim to complete a 20-game schedule, but Iowa and MSU's breaks do not align.
Iowa's next scheduled game is Sunday night against Northwestern, while Michigan State is still slated to play Indiana on Sunday at noon.
Hunter Dickinson, No. 7 Michigan Rout No. 9 Wisconsin in Big Ten Action
Jan 12, 2021
Michigan coach Juwan Howard watches from the sideline during the first half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Wisconsin, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
In its toughest matchup yet, No. 7 Michigan affirmed its place atop the Big Ten and is nearing the top of the AP Top 25 poll with a 77-54 defeat of No. 9 conference rival Wisconsin.
The Wolverines went on a 43-6 run starting at 6:19 of the first half to kept their perfect season going, improving to 11-0 (6-0 Big Ten) with a win that was all but secured at halftime.
Third straight game where #Michigan is absolutely dismantling a ranked team! What they're doing to Wisconsin is the most impressive by far.
For Wisconsin (10-3, 4-2), D'Mitrik Trice led with 20 points.
Notable Performers
Mike Smith, Michigan: 16 PTS, 6 AST
Franz Wagner, Michigan: 15 PTS, 10 REB, 4 STL
D'Mitrik Trice, Wisconsin: 20 PTS, 2 REB
Mike Potter, Wisconsin: 12 PTS, 6 REB
Dickinson's Quiet Start No Problem for Michigan
Just a freshman, Hunter Dickinson is the face of a perfect Michigan squad. Entering Tuesday, the 7'1" center paced the rest of the team in scoring with 18.0 points per game on 73.0 percent shooting from the field, good for second in the NCAA. He also averaged 8.1 rebounds.
He scored at least 18 points in six of Michigan's first 10 victories, and he posted a career-best performance in the team's last game against No. 23 Minnesota on Wednesday. En route to his fifth Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor, he collected 28 points and eight rebounds in an 82-57 victory.
But on Tuesday, he tallied only two points in 12 minutes of play in the first half.
If I told you Hunter Dickinson was going to go 1-for-3 with 2 points in 12 minutes in the first half ...
probably wouldn't have predicted Michigan would be up by 17 ...
Second, Wisconsin came in this game intent on disrupting Hunter Dickinson. They did that and #Michigan still up at the break by 17 bcuz other options stepping up. Crisp basket cuts = buckets. Pick & roll = buckets, three-pointers = buckets. Defense to offense = buckets.
With their best player being shut down by the Wisconsin defense, other players gave the Wolverines their monstrous halftime lead. Franz Wagner tacked on 11 points, while Isaiah Livers tallied 10 points before the break.
Dickinson came alive in the second half, when he brought his total up to 12 points, but balanced scoring from across the roster gave the Wolverines their easy victory. Mike Smith led with 16 points, Wagner ended up with 15, and Livers knocked in 13. Michigan's bench players collected 16 points.
While the Badgers were successful in shutting down Dickinson at first, the rest of the roster made up for the loss, proving that the Wolverines are one of the most dominant teams in the hunt this season.
Defense Tops D'Mitrik Trice
The last time Michigan and Wisconsin played each other, D'Mitrik Trice stole the show. On Feb. 27, 2020, the then-redshirt junior led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, hitting five of six attempts from beyond the arc to carry the Badgers to the 81-74 victory.
This year, he's been just as successful. The leading scorer for the Badgers, Trice averaged 14.8 points per game entering Tuesday.
Even as Michigan pulled out to a halftime lead, Trice was the bright spot for Wisconsin, tallying seven points to lead the team in the opening half. But it wasn't enough.
The Michigan defense was too strong, holding the Badgers scoreless for final six minutes of the first half, while the Wolverines offense engineered a 14-0 run. The Michigan forced Wisconsin to turn the ball over 10 times and scored 15 points on those giveaways.
Trice ended his night with 20 points—nearly half of the score for the Badgers—but it wasn't enough to get past a doubly dominant Michigan squad.
What's Next?
The Wolverines have a rematch with No. 23 Minnesota on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Badgers will head east to face Rutgers on Friday.
Big Ten Is the King of College Basketball, and Its Reign Has Only Just Begun
Dec 31, 2020
Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) powers past Minnesota's guard Gabe Kalscheur (22) in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Holly Hart)
In the first five years after 2013's great schism in the Big East, the answer to the annual "best conference" question in men's college basketball was almost indisputably: the Big 12 with a side order of the ACC.
Over the past three seasons, though, the Big Ten has not only surged into first place but has also created some serious separation from most of the field.
We want to be sure to emphasize the "most," because the Big 12 is still extremely good. Our intent isn't to downplay its strength. That 10-team league has four squads (Baylor, Kansas, Texas and West Virginia) ranked in the AP Top 10 with a fifth (Texas Tech) at No. 13. Those five teams are also in the top 13 on KenPom.com. In other words, 50 percent of the Big 12 ranks among the top 4 percent of teams in the country. That's mighty impressive.
But the 14-team Big Ten has nine representatives in the AP Top 25, as well as 12 teams in my most recent 2021 NCAA tournament projection.
Having nine ranked teams is just absurd. Even this past September in college football—during the two-week stretch when four of the 10 conferences were not eligible for the AP Top 25 because they weren't planning on playing this fall—there were never more than eight ranked teams from the same conference at any point. And Division I college basketball has nearly three times as many teams as the FBS.
There was one week early in the 2015 football season when the SEC placed 10 teams in the AP Top 25. I believe that's the all-time, single-conference record for either sport. But I would daresay nine Top 25 teams more than a month into the basketball season is more impressive than 10 teams one week into the football season.
And this isn't just some pandemic-fueled, flash-in-the-pan start for the Big Ten.
This has been brewing for a while.
Iowa's Luka Garza
The Big Ten sent a league-record eight teams to the 2019 NCAA tournament, and it could have been more. Penn State, Nebraska and Indiana all missed the Big Dance despite finishing the year ranked Nos. 43, 47 and 52, respectively, on KenPom. Moreover, the entire conference ended up at No. 84 or better, indicating that even the conference's worst teams were respectable.
The league was even more loaded last year.
Had there been an NCAA tournament, the Big Ten was likely going to receive 10 bids—maybe even more if Purdue and Minnesota made runs in the conference tournament. Nebraska and Northwestern were pretty bad, but for four months it felt like the Big Ten had 12 teams capable of reaching the Sweet 16. Whether any of them were good enough to reach the Final Four was another story, but the year ended (abruptly) with a dozen Big Ten teams in the Nos. 7-34 range on KenPom.
Now with Northwestern taking a huge step forward, the great have gotten greater.
We didn't get anywhere close to our usual supply of nonconference games this year, but the 2020 portion of this season suggests Nebraska is the only Big Ten team lacking in tournament potential.
Penn State is probably the second-worst team in this league, but the Nittany Lions beat a solid VCU and won by 20 on the road against an otherwise undefeated Virginia Tech.
Michigan State might be the third-worst team in the Big Ten—there have been many, many moons since the last time that was the case—yet the Spartans defeated both Duke and Notre Dame and were one of the five teams (along with Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State and Rutgers) to enter Big Ten play with an unblemished record.
And, again, those teams appear to belong in the bottom 25 percent of the league.
Higher up the standings, the Big Ten is overflowing with individual star power.
Iowa's Luka Garza is already running away with all of the National Player of the Year awards. Illinois' Ayo Dosunmu is one of the few players who might be able to catch Garza. Dosunmu's teammate, Kofi Cockburn, might be the most alluring NBA prospect in the conference. Minnesota's Marcus Carr is a cold-blooded walking bucket who's averaging 24.0 points and 6.1 assists per game.
That's not all.
Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis and Purdue's Trevion Williams are old-school big men who could go off for 25 points and 15 rebounds in any game. Michigan's standout freshman center, Hunter Dickinson, has been one of the biggest breakout sensations of the year. In Ron Harper Jr., Jacob Young, Geo Baker and Montez Mathis, Rutgers has one of the country's best backcourts. And Wisconsin's all-senior starting lineup is quite the force of nature.
So will this be the year the Big Ten's national championship drought finally ends?
Wisconsin's fifth-year senior D'Mitrik Trice
Since Michigan State last won it all in 2000, the Big Ten has had 14 teams reach the Final Four, including two years (2005 and 2015) with dual representation in the national semifinals. Seven of those 14 teams reached the national championship game. But none won it.
At some point, the league's horrific luck in April has to balance out to some extent, right?
They certainly have candidates. Entering play Wednesday, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois all ranked in the top six on KenPom. Michigan, Ohio State and Rutgers were also in the top 20. And while Indiana was a bit further back at No. 23 with a 5-4 record, the Hoosiers might have the conference's best defense.
The NCAA tournament is a fickle beast, and there's little question that Gonzaga is the favorite. But the Big Ten will have a whole bunch of pingpong balls in that lottery.
And speaking of lotteries, that's where things get really interesting for the Big Ten.
In spite of all those talented players we mentioned, this conference doesn't have a single player in the mix for a lottery pick in 2021. B/R draft expert Jonathan Wasserman put out a new first-round mock draft on Christmas Eve, and here's the full list of Big Ten players from it: Dosunmu at No. 25.
In a season when everyone is getting a free year of eligibility, how many of these guys might come back?
Illinois will almost certainly lose both Dosunmu and Cockburn and take a sizable step backward, but I wouldn't bet my life that anyone else will leave for the draft.
Even if Garza wins the Wooden Award, he might consider coming back for another year of fun if it doesn't seem like the NBA is in any rush to get him. And if all of Wisconsin's veterans return, we might need to refresh all the "Perry Ellis played for Kansas for an entire decade" jokes, because it already feels like Brad Davison and D'Mitrik Trice have been with the Badgers for ages.
Every player in every league is getting that free eligibility, but it does seem likely the Big Ten will benefit from it more so than any other major conference. Maybe the Big East could also gain some ground, with just James Bouknight and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl in Wasserman's mock draft, but the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC are all expected to lose at least four first-round picks.
The Big Ten already holds commitments from four 5-star recruits in the 2021 class, too, so the league might gain more talent than it loses.
That list of 5-star guys includes Bryce McGowens, who is the highest-rated recruit to ever sign with Nebraska. If he can be the driving force who brings the Cornhuskers back to semi-relevance, the deepest conference ever will get even deeper.
Kerry Miller covers college football and men's college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter,@kerrancejames. Recruit ratings via 247Sports.
No. 6 Wisconsin Upset by Unranked Maryland; Eric Ayala Drops 17 in Win
Dec 28, 2020
Maryland guard Eric Ayala works the floor against Rutgers during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in College Park, Md. Rutgers won 74-60. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The unranked Maryland Terrapins lost three of their past four games before they traveled to face No. 6 Wisconsin, but 17 points from guard Eric Ayala led them to victory Monday and improved them to 6-3 on the season.
Ayala, who also had four rebounds and two assists, was one of three Terrapins to score at least 12 points, with guard Aaron Wiggins finishing one rebound shy of a double-double while scoring 15 points. Forward Donta Scott tallied 12 points with four rebounds and two assists.
Wisconsin was led by guard D'Mitrik Trice, who dropped 25 points with four rebounds and three assists. Guard Aleem Ford was the only other Badger to score in double digits, having added 10 points and six rebounds.
What a win for @TerrapinHoops Played with a whole lot of passion. Happy it was rewarded.
With the win, the Terps earned their first victory over a team ranked in the Top 10 since January 2016.
Wisconsin, which dropped to 8-2 on the season, led by four points at halftime.
The Terrapins capitalized in the second half, scoring 46 points on 64.0 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent from three, up from 37.0 from the field and 30.0 percent from beyond the arc in the first half. They outscored Wisconsin 7-0 on fast-break points and added eight points off turnovers.
Wisconsin was whistled for 10 personal fouls in the second frame, and the Terrapins made the most of the opportunity, hitting 11 of their 12 free throws.
As the two teams kept trading the lead late as the clock ticked under 10 minutes, Maryland hit 11 of its last 12 field goals and three of its last four attempts from three to steal the victory on the road.
The Badgers entered Monday on a five-game winning streak, having suffered their lone loss of the season to Marquette, 67-65, on Dec. 4. They beat then-No. 12 Michigan State, 85-76, on Christmas Day.
The Terps are a rare outlier in the Big Ten, which was well represented in the AP Top 25 poll with nine teams ranked and Indiana receiving votes, but they've shown that they'll be able to fight for wins in a tough conference.
Up next, they'll face some of the toughest competition in the Big Ten, with games against No. 16 Michigan, Indiana, No. 10 Iowa and No. 15 Illinois on tap over the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin will host No. 21 Minnesota followed by Penn State and Indiana, and then heads into a stretch of four games against ranked opponents before meeting Maryland again Jan. 30.
