Maryland Basketball: Terps get some help from Northwestern

The Maryland basketball team step themselves back in the Big Ten conference race after back-to-back losses to Purdue and Penn State.

On Sunday evening, the Terrapins received a huge assist from Northwestern.

Northwestern, who Maryland faces on Wednesday, topped Big Ten-leading Wisconsin 66-59 in Madison. The Wildcats’ win brought the Badgers’ conference mark to 10-2, which puts Maryland and Purdue tied for second place with a 9-3 record in the league.

Star guard Bryant McIntosh played a mind-boggling 40 minutes and scored 25 points to go along with seven assists and seven rebounds. Northwestern now sits in fourth place with an 8-4 showing.

Now Wisconsin’s two losses in the conference have come against Northwestern and Purdue. The Badgers will face the Terps this coming Sunday, Feb. 19 in the lone regular season meeting between the two schools.

Both Maryland and Wisconsin currently own 21-4 overall records.

The Terps won last season’s meeting by a 70-57 decision. Rasheed Suliamon led the way with 17 points and four of Maryland’s five starters finished in double figures.

Unfortunately, the bench only chipped in four points.

Maryland is coming off a week in which they fell to Penn State, but they also defeated Ohio State by a 86-77 margin. It’ll be known on Monday afternoon if the Terps will still be ranked in the Top 25.

The Terps have six games left before the Big Ten Tournament takes place next month. Maryland faces Michigan State, Northwestern, and Wisconsin during that time, but three games are at home.

Maryland caps off the regular season with a battle against Michigan State on March 5. With a back-to-back losses, the Terps were thought to be playing themselves out of the Big Ten race, but things certainly have swung back in Maryland’s favor after Sunday.