Northwestern defeats Maryland men for third-straight time, Terps still without a road win

Photo courtesy of University of Maryland Athletics

There were few, if any points Thursday night where it seemed like Maryland men’s basketball was going to come away with a win. Yet, on the road in Evanston, Illinois, the Terrapins somehow found themselves in a tie ballgame with 0.7 seconds left in overtime versus Northwestern.

Off the inbound, which almost reached the five-second limit, junior forward Nick Martinelli put up one of his signature short-range floaters which, by the time it had come down, had delivered a win for his Wildcats (11-6, 2-4 Big Ten) and another road loss for the Terps (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten).

With the win, Northwestern snaps a three-game losing streak, while Maryland continues its search for a conference win away from XFINITY Center. The Terrapins have now dropped three straight contests against the Wildcats, though they lead the all-time series 12-7.

Despite grabbing 14 rebounds, freshman center Derik Queen was noticeably frustrated at several points throughout the contest, turning the ball over five times. His third personal foul with more than 16 minutes left in the second half limited his defensive tenacity from that point on, and he ended with just nine points to go with four personals.

Junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie provided his usual dose of first-half steadiness, but once again lost a bit of his shooting touch to start the second frame. He made both of his three-point attempts and had a board and three assists in the first 20 minutes, going just 2-for-10 in the second and only one helper. However, his game-tying layups at the end of regulation and overtime (before Martinelli’s winner) were clutch as he finished with 14, leading Maryland with 40 minutes on the floor.

The Terps’ best player was senior forward Julian Reese, whose 23 and seven, including an impressive 13-for-14 from the line, kept the team in the game during Northwestern’s stretches of momentum.

“Ju was great inside, he was being dominant all night,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “I thought he was getting fouled almost on every play. It was a big, physical game.”

Sophomore guard Rodney Rice had a forgettable first half, logging all 10 of his points after the break. He fouled out of the game with 18 seconds left in regulation, stopping the clock when the Terps had no timeouts remaining.

Senior wing Selton Miguel had another quiet offensive performance, finishing below 10 points for the third time in the last four outings.

Junior forward Tafara Gapare provided a nice spark off the bench with nine, playing 13 total minutes.

The game started like most Big Ten contests — tightly contested with no lead growing higher than six. The Terps gave the ball away nine times despite a season per-game average of 10.2, but they were 4-for-9 from three and made all 11 free throw attempts.

Wildcats guard Ty Berry had a combined five points in the team’s last three games, all losses. However, he found a hot shooting hand in the first half where he had 10 of his eventual 15.

Maryland trailed at the half for just the third time on the season. They came back to win in the previous two instances, being its last game against Minnesota (35-32) and earlier in the season versus Villanova (40-28).

“Coming on the road, [we] can’t have 16 turnovers. That really is tough to overcome on the road,” Willard said.

While Maryland took better care of the ball in the second half, their three-point and free-throw shooting wavered, leaving them short on answers offensively when Northwestern began finding their rhythm.

Senior Wildcat guard Brooks Barnhizer, who picked up his 1,000th career NCAA point on the night, led the way down the stretch and finished with 20 and 10 rebounds. Junior forward Nick Martinelli had 22 with three boards, assists and fouls, each.

Hoping for answers late in the game, Maryland turned back to their anchor in Reese. Supplemented by a sudden stretch of made field goals by Rice, the Terps continued to fight back while Northwestern failed to build on their early second-half lead.

A Gillespie layup tied the game at 68 before a Wildcat miss at the buzzer brought the game to overtime.

The extra period was more of the same, with no team taking more than a two-point lead. Gillespie once again tied the game with a late layup, but the following Northwestern possession saw Martinelli sink his buzzer-beating floater.

Maryland looks to erase the memory of this heartbreaking loss against Nebraska in the XFINITY Center on Sunday at noon. The Terps are 12-4 all-time versus the Cornhuskers, only losing to them in College Park once (2017). Like Northwestern, Nebraska will go into Sunday’s contest having lost its last three.

“There’s no time to really feel bad for yourselves,” Willard said. “We’re gonna get in late, get our rest and then get ready for a good Nebraska team.”