Steven Crowl's goal Thursday was to stay aggressive and get shots up frequently. In a Big Ten tournament second-round matchup against Maryland, the Wisconsin junior and former Eastview standout made the most of his attempts.
Crowl was part of a Badgers unit that completely dominated the Terrapins across the board in an 87-56 victory. The 7-foot Crowl sliced up the Terrapins for 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting with a variety of post moves and made all three of his long-range attempts. He did all of that in just 18 minutes, allowing him to rest his legs ahead of Friday's quarterfinal against fourth-seeded Northwestern.
The Badgers as a team dismantled Maryland with their hot shooting from deep. Wisconsin went 16-for-25 from three, including 10-for-13 in the first half, to bury a Terrapins group tied for fifth in the nation in fewest three-pointers against per game entering the day (5.1).
Through 11 minutes, Wisconsin was doubling Maryland's score. By the end of the first half, the Badgers led by 21. And after an 18-0 Wisconsin run to start the second half made the Terrapin deficit 39, the game was all but over.
Crowl's strong play helped introduce the conference tournament to his home state for the first time. After 25 years split between Chicago and Indianapolis, with one year apiece in Washington, D.C., and New York, the Big Ten men's tournament is making its debut this weekend in the Twin Cities, after the women's tournament did the same last year.
Luckily for Crowl and Wisconsin, strong performances in his home state are nothing new.
"I thought it was a lot of fun, not only for me, but the other Minnesota guys — Tyler, Jack, Nolan — just being able to play in front of our friends and family and get a win," Crowl said. "I enjoy playing here. We tend to have a lot of success in Minnesota."
Tyler Wahl and Nolan Winter, both Lakeville North graduates, combined for 10 points for the Badgers. Freshman Jack Janicki (White Bear Lake) is redshirting this season.
Wisconsin (20-12) will try to continue its momentum into Friday's matchup with the Wildcats (21-10). Northwestern ranks sixth in the nation in three-point percentage at 39.6%, but shot 6-for-21 from range in a Jan. 13 Badgers victory in Madison.
Coach Greg Gard said he's felt confident in his team's ability to make long-range shots, even after a late-season stretch where the Badgers struggled.
"I see these guys every day, in every drill, in every workout, so I know we've got good shooters," Gard said. "That's a credit to defenses that have been able to do different things to us. But I think you also go through ebbs and flows of the season, and when you hit a little dip or a valley, don't beat yourself up mentally. You have to keep playing and keep playing aggressively."
Gard said that during their February and March stretch when the Badgers went only 3-8 to end the regular season, they weren't being aggressive enough. If important players such as Crowl continue to be as aggressive as he was Thursday, and the rest of the team shoots the lights out like it did against Maryland, the same Wisconsin team that was ranked No. 6 in the country at the end of January could pull off a few surprises in March.
"I kept telling them all the time when we were going through this, we're a really good team," Gard said. "We're a really good team, and we'll fight our way out of it. I'm glad to see that they're getting rewarded for their perseverance and their persistence."
