Maryland men’s basketball falls to Northwestern, 72-69, despite Jahmir Young’s excellence

It was the battle of two All-Big Ten guards in Evanston Wednesday night. Jahmir Young scored 28 of his 36 points in the second half, but it wasn’t quite enough. An 18-footer from Boo Buie with 20 seconds remaining proved to be the difference in a game that was tight from start to finish.

Maryland men’s basketball (11-7, 3-4 Big Ten) fell just short of a second consecutive road win and its third straight overall victory. Northwestern (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten) defeated coach Kevin Willard’s team, 72-69.

The Wildcats never led by more than six points, but the Terps couldn’t string together the run they needed down the stretch to secure the victory. Every time Maryland seemed to gain a bit of momentum, Buie had an answer — he hit the go-ahead shot after a Young three gave the Terps a one-point lead — their first of the second half — with 32 seconds left.

Buie hit one timely shot after another down the stretch, as did Young. But with Maryland trailing by a point with the final seconds winding down, Young’s mid-range jumper drew iron and Northwestern was able to salt away the Terps’ hopes of a dramatic win at the free-throw line.

“Buie and [Young] — they just went head-to-head,” Willard said. “Jahmir was phenomenal. Just absolutely phenomenal.”

Young shot 12-for-19 from the field and 11-for-11 at the stripe and added five assists to the second-highest scoring effort of his career. Buie posted 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting and dished out seven assists, a line not as statistically dominant as Young’s, but his side came out victorious.

Most of Young’s production came in the second half as he nearly single handedly led Maryland to the win. It was more of a collective for the Terps’ offense in the opening 20 minutes, as a quartet of players scored at least five points.

Turnovers were costly in an otherwise productive first half for Maryland — the Terps committed 10 in the first 20 minutes to the Wildcats’ three. The result was a four-point Wildcats lead at the break.

Five of those first-half turnovers came from Julian Reese. Northwestern sent a double team every time Reese put the ball on the floor to post up, forcing several errant passes that led to easy transition baskets for the Wildcats.

Reese’s struggles with the double team led Willard to put the game in the hands of Young in the second half. Reese scored just four points and attempted three shots in the final 20 minutes.

Jordan Geronimo played arguably his best game as a Terp. The Indiana transfer was active on the defensive end, blocking three shots and handling a variety of different assignments. But it was on offense where he broke out, knocking down a pair of triples despite making only three looks from deep entering Wednesday. 

Geronimo nearly matched his season total of three, but his foot was on the line when he knocked down a transition jumper with just under eight minutes left — a matter of inches that proved costly in a game that went down to the final few possessions.

“We had our chances in the second half … We missed six free throws in the second half,” Willard said. “Some of our execution down the stretch was just not good.”

Outside of its first-half turnovers, Maryland put together a strong offensive performance by its modest standards. The Terps shot 52 percent from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc — both better marks than Northwestern — but lost the turnover battle by six. 

But Maryland is past the point for moral victories — the Terps need to stack wins to keep alive any hopes of a second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. Wednesday presented an opportunity for another signature win after their upset victory over Illinois three days prior, but the Terps came up just shy to fall back below .500 in conference play.