EVANSTON-A lot of people go up to Wisconsin over a weekend and come back with a hangover. They might not admit it, but you can count the Wildcats among them.
Fresh off an upset of the then-No. 7 Badgers in Madison on Sunday that could have been the biggest win in school history, Northwestern came up flat against No. 23 Maryland on Wednesday night, looking tired and worse for the wear in losing 74-64 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Head coach Chris Collins didn’t use coming off of an emotional victory as an excuse for his team’s performance, but he admitted that the Wildcats “were a step slow with everything tonight.”
They certainly were slow when guarding Maryland’s Melo Trimble, who lit up the Wildcats for 32 points to lead all scorers.
Isiah Brown came off the bench to lead the way for the Wildcats with 19 points, while Vic Law and Dererk Pardon finished with 12 and 11, respectively.
Northwestern’s second straight home loss dropped its record to 19-7 (8-5 Big Ten). The Wildcats, who are now 1-3 without leading scorer Scottie Lindsey, figure to need two more wins over their final five conference games to earn that elusive NCAA tournament bid.
Our three pointers:
An offensive offensive display in the first half: Northwestern, as has often been the case this season, came out ice cold to start the game, missing 13 of its first 15 shots from the floor. The Wildcats made just nine baskets in the first half and had more blocked shots than makes for a bulk of the time. Bryant McIntosh, who played just 12 minutes because of foul trouble, and Law combined to shoot 2 for 13 from the floor in the opening period, and the team as a whole was 2 for 12 on 3-pointers. Northwestern’s defense, which had 7 blocks and forced 8 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, and Brown, who came off the bench to score 8 points, are the only reasons the deficit wasn’t bigger than 10. “We just couldn't put it in the basket,” said Collins. “Against a really good team, you're not going to be able to get away with that.”
Northwestern had no answer for Trimble: Maryland’s point guard turned in a virtuoso offensive display. He scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half, but that turned out to be just a warmup for the second. The junior point guard hit his first four shots of the second half, including a 24-foot bomb for 3, as the Terrapins continued to extend their lead. Maryland’s offense for much of the night was getting the ball to Trimble on the wing and just letting him dribble-drive to the hole or pop one from long distance. And it worked, as he hit several layups as well as 4 of 5 shots from beyond the arc. Either Law or Sanjay Lumpkin were matched up with Trimble for most of the game, but neither had the quickness to keep up with him. In the second half, he wheeled around a set of screens and banked a left-handed layup high off the glass, all while getting fouled by Lumpkin, to send a groan through the NU student section. The resulting free throw gave Maryland its largest lead, 62-42, with 7:28 left.
Brown led a late charge: Say this about the Wildcats: they don’t quit. After falling behind by 20 they got the lead down to 8 points with 1:15 left but couldn’t get any closer. Brown scored 8 points of the Wildcats’ 22 points during the stretch run. After an ugly first half, the Wildcats were much better in the second, shooting 45.2 percent and turning the ball over just 3 times. McIntosh's playmaking -- he had all 6 of his assists in the period, even if he shot just 2 for 7 -- and Brown’s scoring were the keys to the resurgence. But on this night, Maryland and Trimble wouldn’t let the Wildcats out of the hole they dug themselves.
