Jalen Smith scores 18 but Terrapins fall 56-54 to the Badgers

Maryland has fallen back into a slump with their two-game losing streak

Jalen "Stix" Smith scored a team-high 18 points, but the No. 17 Terrapins (13-4) lost to the Wisconsin Badgers (11-6) 56-54 Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.

Maryland began the opening minutes of the game with a 4-0 lead but ultimately watched Wisconsin go on a 9-0 run. The Terrapins' first half struggles remain as the biggest red flag on this team, as they made less than 35 percent of their shots from the field. The Badgers went on to take a 30-25 lead going into the break.

Things did turn for the better for Maryland as they improved their overall field goal percentage to 40.4 percent in the game. Anthony Cowan Jr led the surge for the Terrapins as he scored 16 points on 6-14 (.428) shots. His three point jumper at 14:41 in the second half helped Maryland retake the lead 35-32.

Despite Maryland's improved performance and even leading with 12 seconds remaining in the game, a late mistake committed by the Terps proved costly. Darryl Morsell attempted to inbound the ball to Cowan. The ball was batted away and Wisconsin's Brad Davison hit the ball to Morsell, who was still standing out of bounds as an inbounder. 

This set up a nice screen play by the Badgers that led to a three point jumper by Davison to win the game.

Maryland lost their second-straight game, both against Big Ten opponents. They just do not have an answer when they play away from home.

The Terrapins will be back it again on Saturday when they host Purdue at the Xfinity Center.