Maryland pulls off an amazing comeback against Northwestern, win 77-66
The Terrapins (15-4) win 77-66 against the Northwestern Wildcats (6-12) Tuesday night at the Welsh Ryan Arena. They made a complete turnaround in the second half after trailing by 14 points at halftime.
First Half
Maryland's offense struggled at the jump, going 0-5 from the field to start the game. Four of their first five shots were 3-point attempts. Northwestern clearly challenged Maryland to take the deep shots and they did not deliver. The Terrapins are not a strong team from behind the arc and that usually gets them in trouble in most of their road games.
In addition to their forgetful start, Maryland's starters went 1-15 (.067) from the field in the first half. Their bench outscored their starters 16-10
As for Northwestern, Miller Kopp scored six points within the first four minutes of the game that helped the Wildcats take a 10-0 lead.
The Wildcats were clearly in sync and were clicking on all cylinders to start the game. The performance in the opening half by Northwestern was the best start by their team this season. They played strategically with precision passing, shooting 11-19 (.579) on the inside and going 4-6 (.667) from behind the arc.
Maryland trailed Northwestern 40-26 going into halftime.
Second Half
Mark Turgeon and the Terrapins came out of the break flying. They made a complete turnaround trailing by 14 points in the first half to taking their first lead of the game 56-55 at 9:10.
Jalen Smith went 6-7 (.857) from the field in the second half and led all scorers with 25 points on the night. Although Cowan still struggled to score in the second half, he made up for it with excellent passing.
Aaron Wiggins was the most dangerous player on the court from behind the arc, making 5-9 (.555) and scoring 17 points. He was the Terrapins' second-best player and provided a great boost as a reserve to the struggling starters.
After making only 24 percent of their shots from the field in the first half, the Terrapins improved those numbers by making around 45 percent in the second half. It was the complete opposite for the Wildcats as they made 60 percent in the first half while making only 39 percent the rest of the game.
Maryland outscored Northwestern 51-26 in the second half, securing their first road win of the season by a final score of 77-66. The Terrapins also improve their conference record to 5-3.
