Local Teams

Northwestern held visiting Maryland scoreless over the final 2:31 for its second straight win after a 13-game losing streak, beating the Terrapins 60-55 on Wednesday night in Evanston, Ill.

The Wildcats (8-14, 5-13 Big Ten) outscored the Terrapins 6-0 down the stretch, with sophomore forward Ryan Young giving them the lead for good on a layup with 1:30 left.

Maryland (15-11, 9-10) had its five-game win streak snapped and wasted a career night from junior guard Aaron Wiggins, who had 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting. The Terps could not take care of the ball, giving it away 15 times after committing just 22 turnovers in their previous three games, and they attempted just seven free throws after a 23-of-24 performance from the line in their last outing.

Northwestern led 28-26 at the half and built a five-point edge on a 3-pointer by Chase Audige, but the sophomore guard had to head to the bench shortly after that after picking up his third foul with 16:14 left.

The Wildcats led 43-37 on a steal and two foul shots from freshman Ty Berry but then Maryland got 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Wiggins and junior Eric Ayala to tie it with 9:54 to go.

Another Wiggins 3 gave Maryland a 51-50 lead with 4:50 to go, its first advantage since late in the first half, and his 3-point play put the Terps ahead 54-52 with 4:02 remaining.

Maryland wouldn't make another basket, missing its final seven shots including six from 3-point range. The Terps shot 42 percent overall and were 9 of 26 from outside the arc.

Maryland jumped out to a 9-0 lead, holding Northwestern scoreless for nearly five minutes. It was reminiscent of the Terrapins' start last time out against Michigan State, when they led 11-0 and kept their opponent off the scoreboard for more than 5 1/2 minutes.

But the Wildcats responded with an 8-0 run of their own, a stretch that extended to 22-8 when Audige hit a 3-pointer to give Northwestern a 22-16 lead with 4:48 left in the first half.

The Terps retook the lead at 26-25 on a Hakim Hart 3-pointer with 2:31 remaining but Buie's third triple of the first half gave Northwestern a two-point edge at the break.

Sophomore guard Boo Buie led Northwestern with 15 points, including a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds to ice it. Audige had 14 and junior forward Pete Nance added 12 for the Wildcats.

In addition to Wiggins, Maryland got 14 points from senior Darryl Morsell but the rest of the Terps were 5 of 26 from the field.

Maryland wraps up the regular season at home Sunday against Penn State, a team it lost to by five on the road on Feb. 5, while Northwestern finishes at home Sunday against Nebraska in a matchup of the bottom two teams in the conference.

--Field Level Media