Wisconsin vs. Maryland: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

Less than 24 hours after the college basketball world was up in arms over a court-storming at Kansas State, the Maryland Terrapins fans showed the nation how they swarm the floor when their team upset No. 5 Wisconsin, 59-53, Tuesday night in College Park.

Maryland jumped out to an early lead in the first half and extended it to double digits by halftime. However, the Badgers came roaring back after intermission and set the stage for a back-and-forth affair in the closing minutes.

Dez Wells and Melo Trimble took turns making critical plays in the stretch run, and the Terrapins picked up a monumental victory over a Top Five team with the madness of March right around the corner.

Wells led the way for Maryland with 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Trimble added 16 points of his own. Frank Kaminsky spearheaded the Wisconsin attack with 18 points and eight rebounds, but his impressive second half was not enough to overcome the raucous crowd.

Wisconsin seized the initial lead, which should not come as a surprise considering its early dominance this season, as noted by Evan Flood of 247Sports:

Maryland took a lead of its own quickly after the first timeout thanks to the impressive play of its backcourt. Both Wells and Trimble attacked the basket and got into the flow of the offense. Trimble in particular caught the eye of Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

However, it was Wells who took over the middle portion of the first half. He hit a step-back perimeter shot, attacked the basket and converted on an and-1 and got the crowd involved early. Rob Dauster of NBC Sports commented on Wells' brilliance, while Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports noted that Nigel Hayes was having serious trouble keeping up with the Maryland guard:

"

Nigel Hayes getting worked by Dez Wells is a lot of the reason I have questions about his ability to defend the perimeter on the next level.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) February 25, 2015"

Wells also had an impressive assist, as shown by Maryland on BTN:

Behind Wells, the Terrapins built a double-digit lead. It was a larger deficit for Wisconsin than it faced during its entire 10-game winning streak coming into Tuesday's showdown. Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated noted that it was too early to count out the Badgers, regardless of the deficit:

While Davis certainly had a point, the Terrapins built a 31-20 lead by intermission. Wisconsin Basketball passed along the stats, and the Badgers' struggles from behind the three-point line immediately jumped out:

The electric crowd also had something to do with the first-half lead for the Terrapins. Maryland coach Mark Turgeon anticipated as much, according to The Associated Press (via CBS Baltimore): “Obviously, we’re confident at home. But it should be an electric atmosphere and all that, it should be a night.”

The good news didn't last long into the second half for Maryland, though, as the Testudo Times pointed out:

Kaminsky took advantage of forward Damonte Dodd's foul trouble and put the Badgers on his back in the opening minutes after intermission. Roman Stubbs of The Washington Post pointed out that the Wisconsin big man is difficult to stop:

Wisconsin cut the lead to 35-33 by the first timeout of the second half. The improved defense on Wells was a big reason behind the trimmed margin, per Dauster:

CBS Sports pointed out that Wisconsin was shooting the ball fairly well in the second half:

Maryland responded with a critical back-and-forth stretch, though, as Jim Polzin of the Wisconsin State Journal noted:

The stretch helped the Terrapins push the lead back to six points in the middle of the second half, and the teams then traded baskets for a few possessions. Wells scored his 20th point to keep his squad ahead, but Wisconsin answered with two consecutive three-pointers, one from Sam Dekker and one from Hayes, to trim the lead to 45-44 at the under-eight-minute timeout.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN acknowledged that this wasn't the first time Dekker made waves on the basketball court:

The Badgers came all the way back to tie it at 47-47 behind a Bronson Koenig three-pointer, which elicited a response from Myron Medcalf of ESPN. However, it wasn't all good news for the Badgers, as Potrykus pointed out:

Maryland took advantage of Hayes' foul trouble, and Wells put an exclamation point on the run with a rim-rattling slam heading into the under-four-minute timeout. It put the Terrapins ahead, 53-48, and sent the raucous crowd into a frenzy.

It was ultimately the final turning point.

Maryland Athletics had the expected and appropriate reaction, while Red Shell Radio shared the highlight:

The Terrapins then pushed the lead to 55-50 with less than two minutes remaining behind some impressive screening action on the offensive end. Doug Gottlieb of CBS Sports noted that Wisconsin isn't great at defending those types of plays:

Kaminsky responded by cutting the lead to three points with a driving basket, but Trimble made the most important play of the game with 33 seconds left when he slashed to the lane and converted the layup half of an and-1. It extended the Terrapins' lead to 57-52, but he missed the free throw.

However, a defensive stop with 17 seconds remaining all but put the game away for Maryland, especially after Trimble hit two free throws to go ahead 59-52.

A couple of free-throw attempts and one court-storming later, Maryland pulled off the crucial Big Ten upset to the tune of 59-53.

After the game, Wells provided his thoughts on Kaminsky, per Zach Woosley of Kentucky Sports Radio: 

"

“Frank Kaminsky is a great player, but he’s not God.” | http://t.co/W2gZCbQVQL https://t.co/rXGYbRiJjw

— Zach Woosley (@Ginge) February 25, 2015"

What's Next?

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Wisconsin returns home to battle Michigan State Sunday and will look to get back to its winning ways. The Spartans are always a formidable foe, have won four straight and seem to be hitting their stride. Michigan State will certainly challenge the Badgers, who need to pick up a victory if they hope to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

As for Maryland, the Terrapins stay home for a Saturday clash with Michigan.

The Terrapins are locked in a tight race for the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds (and byes in the conference tournament) in the Big Ten and need to keep the momentum rolling against a Wolverines squad that is dealing with significant injuries.

They should be able to do just that.