The Maryland Terrapins used a second half surge to shoot past the #17 ranked Wisconsin Badgers 76-68 for their fourth straight win much to the delight of the sellout crowd of 17,950 fans and gold-clad students who took part in “Gold Rush Night” at a rocking Xfinity Center.
Maryland used an 11-0 run at about the halfway mark of the second half giving them a 54-48 lead propelling them to victory and improving to (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten).
All five Terps starters finished in double figures led by guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice who finished with 16 points each and a combined seven assists and eight rebounds.
Senior Julian “JuJu” Reese ended with 14 points and eight rebounds and Selton Miguel and freshman Derik (Double-Double) Queen added 12 points each with Queen snagging a team-high 12 rebounds.
In the first half the Badgers jumped out to a 10-5 advantage and led for most of the half but a Rice three-pointer with 1:41 to go before halftime gave Maryland a 31-29 lead and the Terps ended the half on top 32-31.
In the second half Maryland trailed 48-43 with 11:02 to go but a DeShawn Harris-Smith unexpected three-pointer led to three-pointers from Gillespie and Rice and a layup by Queen gave Maryland a 54-48 lead with 8:36 to go setting up the exciting finish.
Maryland shot 40 percent from the field while holding Wisconsin to 37 percent shooting from the floor.
Maryland was “Golden” on Gold Rush Night from beyond-the-arc in the second half making 7-11 while finishing a 50 percent 12-24 for the game.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin only made nine of 27 three pointers good for 33 percent shooting from deep.
Maryland made 16 of 21 free throws while the Badgers went 15-21 from the charity stripe.
The Badgers won the rebounding battle 39-38.
Wisconsin was led by John Tonje who finished with 23 points and Steven Crowl led them in rebounding with nine while scoring 10 points in a losing effort for the (16-5, 6-4) Badgers.
