Wisconsin basketball improved to 18-9 on the season and 10-6 in Big Ten play with a 74-70 win over Maryland Tuesday night.
The win signals a possible end to the Badgers’ February woes. Greg Gard’s team was 1-5 in the month entering the contest, including road collapses against Nebraska, Michigan and Iowa and a deflating home loss to Purdue. Well, the team could finally be turning a corner with just four games remaining in the Big Ten regular season.
Related: Which Big Ten football team has the toughest conference schedule in 2024?
The reason Wisconsin defeated Maryland is simple: the Badgers made 28 of their 31 free throws, good for a 90.3% clip. That includes nearly every free throw late in the game as well, even when the Terrapins seemed to hit every three-pointer to extend the game.
College basketball teams win when they make free throws. It’s that simple.
Or maybe Wisconsin’s win was due to something else, such as the presence of Packers starting running back A.J. Dillon sitting courtside.
We gotta love @BadgerMBB & little sis cheerleading!! https://t.co/xSPKWdGad7
— AJ Dillon (@ajdillon7) February 21, 2024
Dillon’s wife is a Wisconsin alumnus, and his sister-in-law is on the Wisconsin cheerleading team.
I’m not going to create a cause-and-effect discussion here. But Wisconsin is now 1-0 in games Dillon is sitting courtside this season. That is a trend worth monitoring if he shows up at any games before the end of the year.
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