All good things must come to an end.
So was the case for the Terps Tuesday night in Wisconsin, as they dropped their first game of the season on the road to the Badgers, 64-59, falling to 8-1.
The Terps were led by Jahmir Young for a second straight game, as the senior guard scored a game-high 17 points while adding four rebounds, an assist and a pair of steals.
The Terps trailed at the half for the first time all season and were able to take a lead early in the second, but they weren't able to overcome a late cold stretch.
Maryland will next travel to Brooklyn, where they will face No. 7 Tennessee as part of the Hall of Fame Invitational at Barclays Center on Sunday.
Here are three takeaways from the Terps' first loss of the season:
Terps truly tested on the road
The Terps entered Tuesday night's game having barely been tested through eight games, trailing for just 8:07 out of 320 game minutes. Even in their win over Illinois, they led at the half and held the lead for much of the second half before Jahmir Young's late-game three sealed the win.
The Terps faced their first double-digit deficit of the season less than halfway through the opening half Tuesday night, as they were ice cold from beyond the arc in the early goings. They showed their resiliency, however, as they were able to cut a 12-point deficit down to two going into the locker room, knocking down five three-pointers over the final five minutes of the opening half.
Foul trouble plagued the Terps in the second half as the game went back and forth before a late 13-2 run by the Badgers essentially sealed the victory for the home team.
While there are plenty of things for the Terps to work on coming out of this game, they showed mental toughness and didn't back down while facing their biggest deficit of the season on the road in a hostile environment. The Terps will very likely need to show that same mental toughness Sunday when they face a big, physical Tennessee team in Brooklyn.
Reese faces foul problems (again)
While sophomore big man Julian Reese got off to a fast start this season, he's struggled a bit over the past three games as the talent level has been ratcheted up a notch.
One area that has become a glaring issue for Reese over the past four games is foul trouble. While Reese had his most productive game of the season against Coppin State, scoring 24 points and hauling in 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the year, he also struggled with foul trouble, fouling out of the game. Since that game, he committed three fouls at Louisville and four each versus Illinois and Tuesday night at Wisconsin. And while the foul trouble didn't necessarily affect his minutes--he played 31 minutes versus the Badgers--it was the fact he had to sit in the second half of a close contest that is most worrisome.
The Terps simply lack any depth behind Reese and they will face a Tennessee team on Sunday that is loaded with size. They will likely need Reese to avoid foul trouble if they want to pick up their first top-10 win of the Willard era.
Philly seniors shooting slump
Donta Scott and Hakim Hart entered Tuesday night's game as two of the Terps' three leading scorers. Not only have the two of them been scoring at a high clip, but they have also been doing so in an efficient manner.
At Wisconsin it seemed to all fall apart for the Philly duo, as they combined to shoot just 5 of 24 from the field and scored just 14 points between them.
The good news is that, despite their shooting woes in Madison, both Scott and Hart played hard and competed on the glass, as Scott pulled down 10 rebound and Hart hauled in nine boards.
Hopefully Hart and Scott's poor shooting performance won't carry over into the weekend. You knew it wasn't Hart's night when Wisconsin threw an errant pass in the first half that the senior should have routinely picked off for a steal and slam. Instead, he slipped on the court, Wisconsin got the ball back and Jordan Davis hit an open three. Nights like that will happen from time to time, especially on the road. The true test will be how the Terps respond in Brooklyn.
