After a narrow defeat at Purdue on Christmas Day, Maryland (5-3, 0-2 Big Ten) hopped right on a bus to Madison, Wisc., where the Terps will play No. 6 Wisconsin (8-1, 2-0) Dec. 28 in their next outing.

Terps head coach Mark Turgeon’s team will be looking for its first win over a top-10 opponent since defeating No. 3 Iowa in January 2016. But Maryland’s lead man knows his squad has a tall task ahead against a team that features mostly seniors and ranks top 10 in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency according to KenPom.

“They’re long and athletic and they play with their hands,” Turgeon said of the Badgers. “They’re really long. [D’Mitrik] Trice has great speed. [Jonathan] Davis is a fighter in there with his hands. [Nate] Ruevers is one of the best defenders, and watching him grow over four years. So they’re just really good with their hands.

“And then offensively they run a system. These kids are old that we’re playing against. One is 24, I heard, a couple are 23. They’ve been running the same system for four or five years, so they know it. And they’ve always been a low-turnover team. And when you’re shooting the ball well and you’re causing turnovers, and you’re not turning the ball over. It’s a recipe for success.”

Much of Wisconsin’s success this season has come from beyond the arc, and that could present a problem for the Terps.

The Badgers currently rank eighth in the country in three-point percentage, shooting nearly 42% as a team. Wisconsin’s three leading scorers — Micah Potter (13.1 ppg), D’Mitrik Trice (13.0), and Brad Davidson (11.2) can all stroke it from deep, which is an area Maryland has struggled to defend recently, having allowed La Salle to net 14 threes and Purdue 10 in its last two outings.

“It’s all fixable stuff. We gave up three threes (to Purdue) in transition, just laziness, not rotating quick enough to shooters. So we talked about that and showed them on film,” Turgeon said. “We know [Wisconsin] can really shoot it. Hopefully we’ll be a little bit better in transition defense. Hopefully we’ll be a little bit better at getting to shooters.

“Everyone who plays for them — all eight guys that will be in their lineup tomorrow can shoot threes and shoot them well. They’re over 40% as a team. So we’ll be challenged. But they’re also good in the low post. So there’s a reason they’re ranked really high in the country. They’re a really good team. Hopefully we learn from film, hopefully we play with a little more toughness in transition, and if we do that hopefully we can limit them to a few less threes.”

Wisconsin will also hold the advantage in the paint with Potter and fellow senior big Nate Reuvers holding down the post. The Badgers’ senior frontcourt is averaging 23.7 points and 10.8 rebounds combined.

But Turgeon believes that if his team plays with the toughness that allowed the Terps to battle their way back into the game in the second half against Purdue then Maryland will have a chance to pull off the upset in Madison.

“We were pleased with how hard we played against Purdue,” Turgeon said. “We felt better about ourselves. So obviously we came up short and we wanted to make plays down the stretch and we didn’t do it, especially on the defensive end...We were competing (before Purdue), but not like we fought on [Christmas]. If we compete like that, good things are going to happen for our team.”

Maryland and Wisconsin are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on FS1 and broadcast on the Maryland Sports Radio Network.