NU Pulls Away From Maryland, Advances to B1G Semifinal

3/10/2017 9:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Wildcats reach conference tourney semifinal for first time

By: David Herder

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the second-straight game, Northwestern used a big run to pull away from its Big Ten Tournament opponent -- this time building an insurmountable lead over No. 3 seed Maryland in the second half of a 72-64 victory that sends the Wildcats into the tournament semifinal for the first time in program history.

Vic Law (17), Scottie Lindsey (16) and Bryant McIntosh (16) led a balanced scoring attack for NU. McIntosh added six assists and a pair of steals to his 16 points, while Law pulled down five rebounds. Northwestern (23-10, 10-8 B1G) outshot Maryland (24-8, 12-6 B1G) from every category, while holding a 32-24 rebounding advantage.

The Wildcats historic season continued, with the game extending their school record of 23 victories. Northwestern's first ever Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal victory was also their first victory over Maryland in Big Ten competition.

The Wildcats opened the game in sharpshooting form. After Maryland built a 7-2 lead, McIntosh, Nathan Taphorn, and Law drained consecutive threes. Isiah Brown followed with a layup, but not wanting to be left out of three party, was fouled on his next drive to earn three the old-fashioned way and tie the game at 15.

After being scoreless in the first nine minutes, Lindsey quickly made his presence known. Northwestern's leading scorer for the season hit back to back jumpers, before using the bank and depositing a three of his own to go ahead 23-18. Northwestern would have a 20-4 run, holding a 28-18 lead with nine minutes left in the half.

The Wildcats shot 52 percent in the half, including going 5-9 from three. Northwestern also held a 16-11 rebounding advantage, including six from Lumpkin. In a game of runs Maryland fought back to take 36-34 lead into half, maintaining momentum into the second half and holding a 44-34 lead with 16 minutes to play.

But as with the first half, the offense was ignited by a long-distance McIntosh effort. On a broken play, McIntosh picked up a loose ball and buried an off-balance triple, starting a 7-0 run. Brown stepped in for two and tied the game at 46 with 12 minutes remaining and Law finished in the lane to reclaim a lead that the Wildcats would never give back.

The Wildcat defense clamped down in the final stages, allowing just eight points in seven minutes, while holding Maryland to just 42 percent shooting in the second half. While stifling the Terrapins, Northwestern shot 58 percent in the second half to keep adding on. The dominance on both ends let the Wildcats build their largest lead of the night of 13 with a minute and a half to play, before closing out the Terrapins for a 72-64 victory.

Northwestern advances to the Tournament semifinal tomorrow, Saturday, March 11, to face No. 2 seed Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised live on CBS.

Northwestern Big Ten Tournament Notes vs. Maryland
March 10, 2017
• This was the first meeting between Northwestern and Maryland in the Big Ten tournament.
• The win is Northwestern first against Maryland since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten Conference.
• Northwestern advances to the Big Ten semifinal round for the first time in school history.
• Northwestern extends its school-record win total to 23.
• The Wildcats improve to 15-0 when scoring 70 or more points in a game this season.
• After shooting a season-best 60.0 percent from the field in Thursday's win over Rutgers, Northwestern shot 55.3 percent (26-47) in Friday's victory.
• One night after posted a 31-0 run in the first half against Rutgers, the Wildcats put together a 20-2 run in the second half Friday that turned a 10-point deficit into an eight-point lead.
• Scottie Lindsey followed up a 16-point performance Thursday by tallying 17 points Friday. Lindsey averaged just 7.9 points per game over the previous seven contests while dealing with illness.
• The Wildcats had a 32-24 rebounding edge in the contest after out-rebounding Rutgers 33-19 on Thursday.
• Sanjay Lumpkin handed out 4 assists, one shy of his season high of 5 against Iowa Jan. 15.
• Northwestern has shot 63.6 percent (28-44) from the field in the second half in its two Big Ten tournament games.