COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament is officially on the Maryland men’s basketball team’s radar.
That’s because all five starters scored double-digit points to propel the Terps to a 75-59 victory over No. 21 Northwestern on senior day Sunday afternoon before an announced 17,950 at Xfinity Center.
The win helped Maryland improve to 16-1 at home, 4-1 in its last five games and 8-2 in its last 10. The program also completed its first undefeated conference record at home at 10-0 since the 2014-15 squad went 9-0 in its debut in the Big Ten. The Terps are the first Big Ten team to go perfect at home in conference play since Purdue in 2018-19.
More importantly, the Terps (20-9, 11-7) moved into a tie with the Wildcats (20-9, 11-7) for second place in the league standings and own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Maryland would clinch the No. 2 seed and a double bye to the Big Ten Tournament’s quarterfinal round on March 10 by defeating Ohio State on Wednesday and Penn State on Sunday — both of which are on the road.
Graduate student point guard Jahmir Young led all scorers with 18 points, including 16 in the first half, and added three rebounds and two assists. Graduate student shooting guard Don Carey scored 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting from 3-point range. The Terps made a season-high 14 3s on 22 attempts (63.6%).
Sophomore power forward Julian Reese, a Baltimore resident and St. Frances graduate, racked up his 17th double-double of the season and 24th of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior small forward Donta Scott scored seven of his 11 points in the second half and collected three rebounds and two assists, and senior shooting guard Hakim Hart amassed 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Even those who didn’t get to double digits contributed heavily to the result. Junior shooting guard Ian Martinez, who is usually known for his defensive prowess, came off the bench to score nine points and scoop up three rebounds.
Just as impressive was the Terps’ work on the defensive end of the floor. After a first half in which Northwestern shot 59.3% on 16 of 27 shooting, the defense harassed the Wildcats into 30.4% on 7 of 23 attempts in the second, holding them to 20 points in the final 20 minutes.
Senior point guard Boo Buie, who entered the game ranked fifth in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.6 points per game, was limited to four points on 1 of 9 shooting while compiling eight assists. Redshirt senior shooting guard Chase Audige finished with a team-best 16 points, but scored only two on 1 of 3 shooting in the second half.
The two sides were evenly matched through much of the first half. Maryland’s largest lead in the first 20 minutes was three points, which it reached twice. Northwestern’s biggest lead was five.
A 3-pointer by Hart gave the Terps their first 3-point lead at 9-6 with 16:05 left in the opening frame. The Wildcats responded with Audige outscoring Maryland, 10-9, over a 4:47 span to push Northwestern into the lead at 20-18 with 10:50 remaining.
Three free throws by junior shooting guard Ty Berry after he was fouled by Terps Scott on a 3-point attempt gave the Wildcats their largest advantage at 23-18 with 10:09 left in the first half. That’s when Maryland ran off seven unanswered points in a 1:06 stretch to assume a 25-23 lead.
Both teams then went back and forth over the next seven minutes with Audige’s jumper giving Northwestern a 39-38 lead with 1:34 left in the half. But the Wildcats went scoreless over the final 94 seconds, and Young drained a fadeaway 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to send the Terps into the locker room with a 41-39 lead.
