Big Ten Roundup: Badgers Get Big Road Win at Maryland; 5 Teams in Top-25 Poll
Tyler Wahl scored a career-high 21 points and Wisconsin hung on for a huge road win at Maryland, winning 70-69 despite giving up a 21-point first-half lead.
"We went away from what had gotten us the lead, which was throwing the ball in the paint," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. "We went away from touching the post, and the post had been so good to us in a variety of ways and we out of that and they realized it. Once you get out of it, it's hard to get back into it."
Maryland's Eric Ayala did all the second-half damage, scoring all 19 of his points late.
Wisconsin is now 13-2 on the season and 4-1 in the league. Maryland is 0-4 in league play, the first time they've ever started a Big Ten season with four straight losses. The. Terrapins, now being led by interim coach Danny Manning, are 8-7 overall.
Wisconsin guard Brad Davison, who finished with XX points, made two free throws with 13 seconds left to give the Badgers at 70-66 lead, but Ayala hit another three with 4 seconds to go. Davison was fouled, and missed the first shot. He then intentionally missed the second, and Maryland missed a long heave from the backcourt at the buzzer.
"As someone who wants to be a coach, I absolutely think it's the best play," Davison said. "Even if you make both, you give them 3 seconds to go the full length of the floor. You can catch the ball at halfcourt and get two or three dribbles to get a good look. If you miss it, you're getting the rebound underneath the hoop and you're still shooting over a halfcourt shot."
Ohio State 95, Northwestern 87
E.J. Liddell scored 34 points and freshman guard Malachi Branham added 24 as Ohio State beat Northwestern 95-87, bouncing back nicely after losing its first Big Ten game at Indiana on Thursday.
Liddell scored 17 points in the first five minutes, including a career-high five 3-pointers in that span. He set a personal best in field goals made, finishing 12 of 20 from the field. He scored only 11 points against Indiana.
Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann and assistant Ryan Pedon were unavailable due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, according to Ohio State. Jake Diebler served as the Buckeyes' acting coach. For the complete game story, CLICK HERE
Indiana 73, Minnesota 60
Xavier Johnson scored 14 points and Rob Phinisee added 13 and Indiana on its 11th straight home game this season with a 73-60 win over Minnesota.
The Hoosiers (12-3, 3-2 in the Big Ten) committed only six turnovers, and made seven three-pointers in the first half. Their defense clamped down late, allowing only six points in the final nine minutes. Minnesota is now 10-3 overall, and 1-3 in the Big Ten.
For the complete game story, CLICK HERE
Illinois re-enters AP Top-25 poll
The Big Ten has five teams in the Associated Press top-25 poll this week after Illinois re-joined the rankings thanks to a 4-0 start in Big Ten play.
Purdue is still the league's highest ranked team, checkin in at No. 7. The Boilermakers fell four spots after losing at home to Wisconsin on Monday. Michigan State remained at No. 10, Wisconsin moved up 10 places to No. 13, Ohio State fell three spots to No. 16 and Illinois is No. 25.
Indiana received 12 votes, and would rank No. 31 overall. Here is the story on the new top-25 poll. CLICK HERE
Cockburn, Davis named players of the week
Wisconsin's Johnny Davis and Illinois' Kofi Cockburn were selected Big Ten players of the week on Monday.
Davis averaged 27.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.0 block per game in Wisconsin’s three wins last week, topped by his 37 point effort in the upset of Purdue on Monday. He added 14 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals in a road win at No. 3 Purdue, becoming the first player to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals in a road win over an AP top-five team since Wake Forest's Tim Duncan in a 1997 win at Maryland.
Cockburn averaged 26.0 points, 14.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1.0 assist, and 1.0 steal per game in Illinois’ two wins last week, recording a double-double in each game. He scored 29 points and added 10 rebounds, four blocks, two assists, and two steals in just 24 minutes in a 76-53 road win over Minnesota. This was the third time he's won the award.
Michigan State's Max Christie was named Freshman of the Week for the third time this season.
Big Ten Roundtable Podcast
Watch Wisconsin guard Brad Davison talk about the Badgers' hot start to the Big Ten season and Wolverine Digest publisher discuss the latest with Michigan football in Episode 4 of the Big Ten Roundtable.
