COLLEGE PARK — Big Ten Network analyst Jim Jackson said last week that Wisconsin was "head and shoulders" above the rest of the teams in the league.
After watching courtside as No. 12 Maryland beat Minnesota, 70-58, at Xfinity Center on Saturday, Jackson was not ready to change his opinion. But he conceded that the Terps are quickly making up ground.
"The top of the ladder is Wisconsin, but not far behind them, to me, is this Maryland team," Jackson said. "They have a combination of really good guard play and some interior depth, which a lot of teams lack. They can play physical or they can get up and down. They have experience."
Part of Maryland's dramatic ascension in the hierarchy has been the surprisingly disappointing season for several of the Big Ten's perennial powers.
While Ohio State recovered from its opening league loss at home to Iowa by beating Illinois early Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, Michigan's disastrous December continued in early January with a loss at Purdue. Michigan State opened the Big Ten by losing in double overtime at home to Maryland.
"When you look at the league as a whole, Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois have a lot of questions," said Jackson, who played at Ohio State. "But this [Maryland] team is as complete and is as close to a Wisconsin as you're going to see."
Jackson, whose son Traevon is a senior guard for the No. 4 Badgers, said the biggest difference between Maryland and Wisconsin right now is experience. Jackson isn't sure the gap will be closed enough by the time the teams meet for the first and only time Feb. 24 in College Park for the Terps to pull off the upset.
"Here's the difference -- you have four-year players [at Wisconsin] that have experience that carries you a long way in games that are tight," Jackson said. "They understand how to win, time and score, those type of situations, things that you don't have to teach.
"That's the beauty of having experience. With a young team, especially with a freshman point guard, there are situations he hasn't seen at this level and how you're going to react to that, is going to dictate how successful you're going to be as a team. That experience pays dividends when you have to play on the road."
Jackson said he was very impressed by the performance Saturday of freshman point guard Melo Trimble despite the fact that Trimble shot five of 15 from the field, including a second straight 1 of 8 on 3-pointers yet still managed to finish with a team-high 20 points by getting to the free-throw line 13 times, hitting nine.
"The thing I like about him is the same thing I like about DeAngelo Russell at Ohio State and James Blackmon Jr. at Indiana, they play with poise," Jackson said. "Even though tonight he wasn't shooting the ball really well, he didn't force it.
"He took advantage of the opportunities, made plays for his teammates and then when he had a chance to score, he did. That's rare, especially for a point guard his age, not to want to try to force the action."