COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The University of Maryland men’s basketball team is gearing up for a critical part of its season. The Terps open up a three-game home stand Wednesday against Wisconsin.
Maryland (12-7, 3-5) enters the matchup playing some of its best ball. Head Coach Kevin Willard’s Terrapins just missed an upset of Purdue (19-1, 8-1) on Sunday. The now No. 1 team in the nation, then No. 3, edged the Terps 58-55.
Maryland was led by Baltimore’s own Julian Reese. The sophomore out of St. Frances played arguably the best game of his college career. He dropped 19 points, the most he’s ever scored in a Big-Ten game, going against national player of the year favorite, 7-foot-4 Zach Edey.
Heading into the battle against the Badgers, the 6-9 forward’s confidence is skyrocketing after pushing Purdue to the limit.
"Building off this game, I feel like having a scoring game like that just shows different ways I can score on the bigger opponents," said Reese. "Like Zach Edey, you know how tall he is, how big and wide he is. It just teaches me ways to score around guys, using my speed against guys, and it’s just teaching me different ways to play against guys like that."
"[Reese] is healthy. I think he has a lot of confidence because he has been putting a lot of extra work in and I think our guys have a lot of confidence in him," added Willard.
Reese and the Terps are 9-1 at Xfinity Center this season. They are coming off home wins over Michigan and Ohio State.
Tip-time Wednesday against the Badgers (12-6, 4-4) is set for 7:00 p.m.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
