Huerter’s hot hand leads Maryland to crucial win over Northwestern

Kevin Huerter poured in 22 points and three other Terrapins scored in double figures as Maryland shut down Northwestern, 73-57, Saturday afternoon in College Park.

Maryland moved to 17-10 overall and 6-8 in the Big Ten with the win, and has just four games left in the regular season to make the right impression on the NCAA selection committee. The Terrapins are striving to make their fourth straight NCAA Tournament out of a crowded Big Ten Conference.

Anthony Cowan posted 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists and played all 40 minutes for Maryland. Darryl Morsell had 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds and Dion Wiley added 10 points.

Northwestern (15-11, 6-7 Big Ten) made a paltry 33.3 percent of its field goal attempts, the lowest percentage Maryland has allowed by a Big Ten opponent all year.

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said it was as good as his team has been defensively this season.

“On ball screens, we just tried to double them, basically,” Turgeon said. “But our back side of our ball-screen defense was terrific today and so that made the whole difference.”

Northwestern coach Chris Collins seemed to agree, crediting the Terrapins for “swarming (us) in our pick-and-roll game.”

“I thought we were a step slow, and give them credit, they were ready to play. They jumped on us early, they got open looks early, they saw the ball go in the basket,” Collins said.

Huerter started the game with a hot hand and made his first four field goals — three 3-pointers and a basket with a foul — to score 12 points in the first five minutes. He sparked a quick 8-0 run that included threes before and after the game’s first timeout, putting the Terrapins up 19-8. Northwestern struggled going shot for shot with Maryland and didn’t get hot on the glass until later in the half.

The Wildcats drew within 22-14 before long, but Anthony Cowan and Dion Wiley answered with consecutive threes to double up Northwestern by the under-eight timeout. Cowan also grabbed one of his seven rebounds, all which came in the first half, to set up the possession where Wiley scored.

Although the Terrapins’ four starting guards accounted for 25 of their 32 total rebounds, Cowan didn’t take much credit for his own rebounding.

“Our bigs did a good job of boxing out, so the ball really came to my hands,” Cowan said. “I didn’t really do too much running around or anything, the ball literally just dropped in my hands and I got rebounds.”

Maryland stayed ahead 32-16 and could have put the game away early with a few more points, but Scottie Lindsey nailed 3-pointers on two straight possessions as part of a brief 8-0 Northwestern run.

Huerter missed a few shots but soon ended the Wildcats’ run with a pair of free throws. He also beat the shot clock in the final seconds of the half with a tough six-foot jumper, putting the Terrapins up 36-29 at halftime.

Northwestern came out sloppy in the opening minutes of the second half: three personal fouls, three turnovers and 0-for-3 shooting from the field before finally scoring. Maryland made them pay during that time with seven quick points, including Wiley’s second 3-pointer.

Aaron Falzon brought the Wildcats close again with eight points in a short span, including two treys, after playing just five scoreless minutes off the bench in the first half.

But the Terrapins kept them at arm’s length the rest of the game, with Cowan, Huerter and Morsell providing nearly all the team’s offense down the stretch. Meanwhile, Northwestern’s cold shooting hands and Maryland’s defensive effort combined to let the Wildcats make just one-third of its field goals (19-57) on the night.

Maryland polished the Wildcats off with a 16-3 run late in the game, punctuated by an alley-oop from Cowan to crowd favorite Michal Cekovsky.

Lindsey led Northwestern with 20 points and Derek Pardon added 12.

Turgeon said the Terrapins have “been through it this year” and it was good for morale to finally get a strong win after they lost four of their previous five games.

Huerter, who came up one point shy of tying his season-best, said he was happy they played a “complete game” but made sure not to put too much stock into one big win.

“We can’t get too high. We know we got ’em in a week,” Huerter said, referencing Maryland’s rematch at Northwestern on Feb. 19. “It is a good feeling because it finally feels like we put together a complete game. It feels like we played pretty well for the most part in both halves.”

Maryland’s next game is Tuesday night at Nebraska, followed by a home game against Rutgers next Saturday.