The set up: Maryland joined the Big Ten before the 2014-15 season and the Terrapins currently own the top winning percentage in the conference at .793, while Wisconsin is second at .784 during teh same time frame. Maryland, Wisconsin and Purdue all entered this weekend tied at 10-3 atop the Big Ten but Purdue moved to 11-3 with Saturday's easy 80-63 win over Michigan State. Later this afternoon, either Maryland or Wisconsin will join them, with the loser of the game falling one game behind with four games left before the conference tourney.

Maryland: The Terps are 22-4 overall, after following a two-game slide with solid wins over Ohio State and Northwestern. Melo Trimble (17.2-3.5-3.5) is coming off a career-high 32 points in Wednesday's win over Northwestern, shooting 12 of 17 from the floor. Trimble had an opportunity to declare for the NBA Draft after last season but in an effort to improve his stock, he returned to school. He's had a 'choppy' year at best, as he was a combined 16-for-52 (30.8%) from the floor over his previous four games prior to his outstanding effort against Northwestern. Maryland's only other double digit scorers this season are both freshman, the 6-7 Jackson (11.0 & 6.3) and guard Cowan (10.7-4.0-3.7).

Wisconsin: The 21-5 Badgers enter today's game off back-to-back losses, the most recent being a 64-58 defeat at Michigan on Thursday. More bad news from that game is that
senior guard Bronson Koenig (13.4) sat out against the Wolverines because of a left calf strain which dates back to a Jan. 24th contest with Penn State. Prior to sitting out against Michigan, he had connected on just 14 of 55 shots overall (25.5 percent), including 7 of 31 three-pointers (22.6 percent) . He averaged only 8.8 points per game in that span. Stepping up lately has been the 6-10 Ethan Happ, the team's leading scorer (14.5) and rebounder (9.1). He's averaging 18.4 points and 10.4 rebounds the last four weeks and Maryland really has no one to match up with him. The 6-8 Nigel Hayes (13.3 & 5.9) has been a major contributor for years at Wisconsin and this season is no different.

The pick: Maryland owns a 6-1 record in Big Ten road games this season but I'm still not sold on the Terps. Koenig participated in shooting and drill sessions during a short practice on Friday but his status is still unclear for the Badgers against the Terps. That said, after back-to-back losses, I want no part of going against Wisconsin in this game. The Badgers are a defensive 'giant,' allowing only 60.5 PPG to ranjk 4th in the nation. They are 13-1 SU at home, holding lined opponents to just 55.8 PPG. Koenig or no Koenig, Wisconsin is a 10* play.