The Terps shot their way past Northwestern on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Wildcats 75-59, to finish the season a perfect 10-0 at home in league play.
Maryland (20-9, 11-7) was led by senior guard Jahmir Young, who scored a game-high 18 points. He was one of five Terps in double-figure scoring along with senior backcourt mate Don Carey (13 points), sophomore big man Julian Reese (12 points), senior forward Donta Scott (11 points) and senior wing Hakim Hart (10 points).
With the win, the Terps moved into a three-way tie for second place in the Big Ten along with Northwestern and Indiana, both of whom they defeated head-to-head. They will next travel to Columbus where they will face Ohio State on Wednesday with just two more regular-season games remaining.
Here are three takeaways from the Terps' win over Northwestern.
Terps save the best for last
While the Terps had already defeated four ranked conference opponents coming into Sunday's game, a win over No. 21 Northwestern loomed large, as it meant a move up to second place in the conference standings as well as a perfect 10-0 record at home in Big Ten play.
Well, the Terps saved their best for last, busting out of what seemed like a season-long shooting slump from behind the three-point line, going 14-of-22 (63%) from beyond the arc. It was the both the most made threes and the highest three-point shooting percentage for the Terps in a single game this season. In all, five Terps knocked down at least one triple, while junior guard Ian Martinez came off the bench and shot a perfect 3-for-3 from distance to finish with 9 points on the afternoon.
Senior guard Don Carey in particular, who was playing in his final home game as a Terp, had one of his better performances of the season, going 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. He finished with 13 points and also played excellent on-ball perimeter defense on the other end of the court. He is now 6-of-10 from three in the Terps' last two games and head coach Kevin Willard would probably like nothing more than to see him get hot as Maryland heads into the postseason. In games where Carey scores in double figures, the Terps are 7-1, including an early-season neutral court win over Miami.
Terps limit turnovers
Coming into the game, it was easy to think that turnovers could be an issue for the Terps against a Northwestern team that is one of the best in the country at both getting steals and forcing teams into turning the ball over.
In the three games this season where the Terps played teams ranked higher than Northwestern in forced turnovers per game, they averaged 15 turnovers per game and were 0-3.
Ball security was no problem for Maryland on Sunday. The Terps had just two turnovers in the first half versus Northwestern and finished with just 7 for the entire game, well below the 10.1 turnovers per game the Terps averaged in league play. Maryland also held Northwestern to just 4 points off those turnovers.
The Terps moved the ball on offense, assisting on 17-of-28 made field goals and also made it difficult for Northwestern to get set defensively, getting out in transition when possible, scoring 12 fast-break points.
Maryland moves into tie for second place
With Sunday's win, the Terps are now tied in the standings for second place in the league with Northwestern and Indiana. Perhaps equally as important, the Terps now hold a head-to-head tie-breaker over both the Wildcats and the Hoosiers for conference tournament seeding.
While Purdue clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title with Maryland's win over Northwestern, there is still a scenario where the Terps could finish tied for first if Purdue were to lose their final two games and the Terps were to win out.
The Terps will now finish the regular season with road games at Ohio State and Penn State. The Buckeyes came into the day having lost 14 of their last 15 games, but upset Illinois, 72-60, on Sunday.
Bottom line, Maryland has far exceeded expectations this season, still having a shot at a share of the Big Ten title with two games still left to play. Kevin Willard should not only be in the discussion for Big Ten Coach of the Year, but could very well win the award in his first season on the job in College Park.
