Maryland men’s basketball vs. Northwestern preview

Sitting at 15-13 with three regular-season games remaining, Maryland men’s basketball is set to face Northwestern on Wednesday for the second time this season.

In their most recent outing, the Terps easily handled Rutgers, 63-46. They jumped out to a double-digit halftime lead, never leading by less than 10 the rest of the way out.

Julian Reese led all scorers with 20 points — also contributing six rebounds and two blocks — while Jordan Geronimo had one of his better games of the season, recording 11 points and 11 rebounds on 50% shooting from the field.

Wednesday’s game against the Wildcats will begin at 7 p.m and air on Big Ten Network.

What happened last time

The first time Maryland played Northwestern this season was on Jan. 17. The Terps came into the game riding a two-game winning streak and were fresh off an upset win over then-No. 10 Illinois, while Northwestern just lost to then-No. 15 Wisconsin.

However, the Wildcats narrowly pulled out the win, 72-69, in a game that was close throughout. There were 11 lead changes and the largest lead was just six points.

Ultimately, it was a missed jumper from Jahmir Young with six seconds remaining that sealed the game, although he was far from the reason Maryland lost. He scored a game-high 36 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field. Only three other Terps scored.

Maryland shot better than Northwestern from the field, but accumulated 13 turnovers — six more than Northwestern — which the Wildcats turned into 11 points.

What’s happened since

Both teams have played 10 games since their first meeting, with Maryland winning four and Northwestern winning six.

Over the last month of play, the Terps split their two-game regular season series with Rutgers, while also defeating Iowa twice and Nebraska, but losing to Michigan State twice, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, Northwestern has climbed to third in the Big Ten standings after defeating Illinois, Ohio State, Nebraska, Penn State, Indiana and Michigan in the last month.

Perhaps the Wildcats’ biggest loss of the stretch was the season-ending injury Ty Berry sustained against Nebraska. Berry had started all 23 games prior, averaging 11.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

Boo Buie currently leads the Wildcats with 18.9 points and 5.2 assists per game, while shooting 43.3% from the field and 41.3% from three. Against Maryland, he scored 20 points on 50% shooting and dished out seven assists.

Three things to watch

1. Maryland’s starting lineup. After experimenting with Mady Traore, Jamie Kaiser Jr. and Jahari Long in the starting lineup, head coach Kevin Willard reverted back to his season-opening lineup of Young, Reese, Geronimo, Donta Scott and DeShawn Harris-Smith in the last two games.

2. Home-court advantage. While not as dominant there as last year, Maryland is 11-4 at XFINITY Center this season and 4-9 everywhere else. As well, the Wildcats are 14-1 at home this season and 3-6 on the road. Home-court advantage could be the difference if Maryland finds itself in another close game.

3. Ryan Langbord. Northwestern guard Ryan Langbord has been on fire of late, scoring 46 points on 14-of-30 shooting from the field over the last two games. With Langbord and Buie in the backcourt, Northwestern’s scoring and shooting prowess should be a primary concern for the Terps.