COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Maryland won its school-record 13th consecutive home Big Ten Conference game defeating No. 21 Northwestern, 75-59, on Sunday afternoon in front of a sold out crowd at the XFINITY Center. The Terps (20-9 overall and 11-7 Big Ten) improved to 5-1 this year against ranked Big Ten foes and are a perfect 10-0 at home in conference play this season. Overall, Maryland finished its home slate 16-1 at the friendly confines of XFINITY Center this year. Maryland becomes just the second team in history to go 10-0 in Big Ten home games, joining 2018-19 Purdue.
With the win, the Terps have moved into a tie for second place in the Big Ten. Maryland holds the tiebreaker with Indiana and Northwestern and would be the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament if the event began today.
Maryland has won 20 games in a season for the 31st time in program history with the last coming in 2019-20.
Prior to the game, Maryland honored its senior and graduate class of Don Carey, Patrick Emilien, Hakim Hart, Donta Scott, and Jahmir Young.
On Senior Day, the seniors were the story as Jahmir Young (18 points), Don Carey (13),
Donta Scott (11) and
Hakim Hart (10) all scored in double-figures.
Hart had an all-around game with seven assists and five rebounds.
Julian Reese had a double-double for the third game in a row with 12 points and 10 rebounds. It was his sixth of this season.
Maryland was on fire from three-point range, canning a season-high 14 makes on 22 attempts from long distance. Carey knocked down 4-of-7 while Young equaled his career-high with 4-of-7 triples. Hart knocked down 2-of-4.
The 14 three-pointers ties for the second-most in a game in Maryland history. The record is 17 vs. UMKC (12/13/06) followed by 14 vs. Illinois (3/3/16) and vs. Iowa (2/10/22) in addition to today.
Maryland took control of a close game outscoring Northwestern, 26-12 over the first 13 minutes of the second half to lead by 16 at 67-51 on Carey's fourth three-pointer of the game.
Northwestern (20-9, 11-7 B1G) was led by Chase Audige who had 16 points and two threes. The Terps held standout guard Boo Buie, who came in averaging 17.6 PPG on 41.1 percent shooting, to a season-low four points on 1-of-9 from the floor. Buie managed just one point in the second half.
From Coach Willard
"Going 10-0 at home in this conference, that's pretty impressive for this group. I think it just shows how great this program is, how great this fan base is. I think the fan base really got behind this group. I think they appreciated how hard they worked, how hard they played. And the students have really turned out and really made this place what it is. To be honest, sometimes I just sit back and watch this place because it's a fun place to play and a fun place to watch a game."
"I think they've taken ownership of the team," he said of the team's biggest area of growth. "I think they've all bought into each other and that's where they've grown the most. They all know what they do well, they all trust each other a lot. They understand my system now, so they don't think about that anymore. They've taken their own ownership and I think that's why we have 11 conference wins."
From The Guys
"It's just a moment you're going to remember for the rest of your life," Young said of the emotions on Senior Day. You're trying to take care of business, but also enjoy it and stay in the moment. We had a great team coming in here with multiple wins on the road, so we were just trying to take care of business and finish the year off strong being 10-0 at home in Big Ten play."
"Just to make them work and make it tough for them," Carey said of the stout defense on the Wildcats' star backcourt of Buie and Audige. "Those are two good basketball players so we know they're going to hit shots and find ways to score, but we just have to make everything tough and stick to our game plan. They hit some shots in the first half, but we stuck with it in the second half and our defense started to show."
"It's been very rewarding," Hart said of his senior season. "I went through a lot during the past years, but all the winning now just means a lot to me. We've got the fans cheering us on and pushing us, so I've kept going hard for them."
Breaking Down The Action
- Both sides got off to hot offensive starts as the two teams each shot at least 58 percent from the field through the first 9:30 of action with the Wildcats holding a slim 20-18 lead. Neither side led by more than three during this span with six ties.
- After Northwestern took its biggest lead to that point at 23-18, the Terps rattled off seven straight points, highlighted by a Young three-pointer from the top of the key with the shot clock winding down to put Maryland back on top 25-23 with 7:15 remaining in the half.
- A thunderous one-handed slam from Young off a beautiful backdoor cut got the XFINITY crowd on its feet at the 3:51 mark in the first half as Maryland took a 35-32 lead.
- A high-level, competitive first half was capped off by a step-back triple from Young at the buzzer, for three of his 16 first-half points. The three, the Terps' eighth of the half in 11 attempts, gave Maryland a 41-39 lead going into the locker room.
- Maryland opened up a nine-point lead (55-46) just over 5:30 into the second half as Ian Martinez canned a corner three, marking the third triple of the half to that point.
- The Terps continued to stretch their lead as a corner three off an offensive rebound from Carey and tough finish through contact from Young put Maryland in complete control, up 64-51 with 8:51 left to play.
- Carey's fourth three-ball of the day gave the Terps their biggest lead of the night at 16 points with 7:04 remaining.
Peaking At The Right Time
- Sunday's win marked Maryland's 10th win in the last 14 games including eight of the last 10.
- The Terps are tied with both Purdue and Indiana with the most wins in Big Ten (10) since January 8.
Home Cookin'
- Maryland has now won a program-record 13 consecutive Big Ten conference games at XFINITY, including all 10 games this season and the final three of last season.
- The Terps' previous record was nine consecutive home Big Ten wins in 2014-15 - Maryland's first season in the league. In 2019-20, Maryland won eight straight Big Ten games.
- The Terps are 16-1 at home this season with the lone loss coming to No. 8 UCLA.
- The 16-1 home record is the best since the 2019-20 season and marked the eighth time overall to win 16-or-more at home. In both 2012-13 and 2014-15, the Terps won 18 games at home going 18-3 and 18-1, respectively.
- This is the 29th consecutive year Maryland has won at least 10 games at home, dating to the 1993-94 season. It also marks the 17th time in the last 20 seasons to win 13-or-more home games and the 28th time overall in program history.
First Unbeaten Home Conference Record Since 2014-15
- Maryland produced an unbeaten conference home record for the first time since 2014-15, its first year in the Big Ten, and the ninth time overall.
- The 10 conference wins at home are the most ever.
- In 2014-15, Maryland was 9-0 at home against Big Ten foes.
- Six times, Maryland was unbeaten at home against ACC foes including 8-0 records in 1994-95, 2001-02, and 2009-10.
- With 13 home conference wins in a row, Maryland has its longest conference win streak since winning 16 in a row from 2001-03 in the ACC spanning three seasons.
20 Wins!
- Maryland won 20 games in a season for the 31st time in program history.
- The last time Maryland won 20 games was in the 2019-20, when the Terps went 24-7.
- This is the sixth time Maryland has won 20 or more games since joining the Big Ten: 2014-15 (28-7), 2015-16 (27-9), 2016-17 (24-9), 2018-19 (23-11) and 2019-20 (24-7).
- Maryland won a school record 32 games in the 2001-02 national championship season.
Thank You Terp Nation!
- Sunday's sellout marked the third of the season at the XFINITY Center.
- It also marked the first time since 2016-17 to have three-or-more sellouts (Maryland had four that season).
- Maryland's attendance of 17,950 is the largest in the Big Ten this year for a true home game.
- This marked the 143rd sellout of the XFINITY Center since it opened in 2002.
Double-Figure Update
- Jahmir Young (18) recorded double figures points for the 15th consecutive game and 26th time this season. This marks the 101st time in his career that he has tallied double figures.
- Don Carey (13) hit double figures for the 11th time this season and the 76th time for his career. It also marked his second straight double-digit scoring effort after notching 10 in the win over Minnesota.
- Julian Reese (12) notched double figures for the 17th time this season and 24th of his career. He has scored 10-plus in 12 of his last 14 games.
- Donta Scott (11) notched his 17th game in double figures this season and the 62nd of his career.
- Hakim Hart (10) scored in double figures for the 19th game this season and 43rd time in his career. This marks the 11th time in the last 14 games that he has scored 10-plus points.
Five In Double Figures
- With five players in double figures, this marked the sixth time this season and the second straight game to do so.
- The Terps have had five in double figures against Saint Louis, Miami, Ohio State, Nebraska and Minnesota before tonight.
- Maryland is 6-0 this year when producing five double-figure scorers.
Fear the Jahmir
- With 18 points, Young now has 1,890 points, 594 rebounds and 355 assists in 114 career games.
Donta In The Record Books
- Scott moved into a tie at No. 31 on the all-time scoring lists with 1,266, tying Bob Kessler who had 1,266 points from 1953-56. Next on the list at No. 30 is Joe Smith (1,290 points from 1993-95).
- Scott remained at No. 20 in career rebounds with 668. Next up at No. 19 is Obinna Ekezie (671 points from 1995-99).
Raining 3s
- The Terps made 10 or more three-pointers for the fourth time this season and first time in double-figure 3s made since making 10-of-27 vs. UCLA on Dec. 14.
- The season-high for made 3-pointers was vs. Saint Louis, 13-of-32 on Nov. 19.
- Maryland has been red-hot at home from three-point range of its last three games at XFINITY, shooting 26-of-46 for 56.5 percent with 5-of-11 vs. Purdue, 7-of-13 vs. Minnesota and 14-of-22 today.
- In shooting 63.6 from three-point range, it set a season-best, bettering the mark of 53.8 against Minnesota.
- The 63.6 is the best percentage mark (minimum 10 made three-pointers) since Maryland shot 11-of-17 (64.7) at Ohio State on Jan. 18, 2019.
- It is the best home three-point field goal shooting day since the Terps were also 11-of-17 against Jacksonville State on Dec. 12, 2016.
Defense!
- The Terps held Northwestern to just 59 points, including 20 points in the second half.
- This was the 13th time this season Maryland held an opponent to less than 60 points. It is the first time since 2014-15 that Maryland has held 13 opponents to less than 60 points in a game.
- Maryland is now holding opponents to just 62.8 points per game this season.
- In the shot clock era and three-point field goal era, this is the best scoring defense for Maryland.
- The last time Maryland allowed fewer than 62.8 points per game was in the 1981-82, when the Terps allowed just 58.8 points per game.
Terps Dominating The Series
- Maryland improved to 12-4 in the all-time series against Northwestern.
- The Terps are now 6-1 in home games vs Northwestern all-time.
Up Next
- The Terps will head to Ohio State on Wednesday, March 1 as the penultimate game of the regular season. Tip off is slated for 7 PM. The game will be televised on BTN and fans can listen on the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
