COLLEGE PARK, Md.-Nick Martinelli poured in 28 points but Northwestern couldn't play spoiler on Maryland's Senior Day, falling to the No. 13-ranked Terrapins, 74-61, on Saturday at the Xfinity Center.

Martinelli was magnificent, posting seven rebounds and shooting a perfect 11-for-11 at the line. The Wildcats were unfazed by a raucous, sold out arena and led 19-12 early in the game. They trailed by just three at the half but were outscored by 10 in the second half as they didn't have enough in the tank to close out a potential upset.

"I thought we played really hard and had good composure," head coach Chris Collins said. "Our margin for error is very slim right now. I have 32 points a game [in injured starters Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach] sitting over there in a cast or in a boot... To play in this environment was good for [the team], I just wish we could give Nick a little more help."

Each member of Maryland's "Crab Five" starting lineup scored 10+ points, led by Julian Reese with 19 points and 11 rebounds, with Ja'Kobi Gillespie right behind him at 17 points. The Wildcats held potential lottery pick Derik Queen in check for the second time this season, as the talented big man finished with a 10-point and 10-rebound double-double and shot just 3-for-7 from the floor.

The game was defined by Northwestern's struggles to find supplemental scoring to help Martinelli, Maryland's monstrous 45-23 advantage on the glass and more frustrating officiating. The Terps entered the bonus with 4:45 left in the first half, and 7:58 left in the second.

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's regular-season finale, which left them with a record of 16-15 (7-13 Big Ten).

Martinelli thrives against Maryland: The trip to Maryland last season served as Martinelli's coming out party as he scored 27 points and the Wildcats scrounged up a win without the injured Ryan Langborg and Ty Berry. Then, this winter, Martinelli poured in 22 points and a buzzer-beater to lead the Wildcats to a 76-74 overtime win.

Now, it was a dominant 28-point performance that closes his season averaging 20.1 points per game, second in the Big Ten behind only Nebraska's Brice Williams and his 20.4 average.

If Williams scores fewer than 13 points, Martinelli will win the conference scoring title. Even if he doesn't get the top mark in conference, it has been an exceptional scoring season and should earn him first-team All-Big Ten honors.

He also broke the record for field goals in a single season, and his points total trails only Boo Buie in 2023-24 and John Shurna in 2011-2 in program history.

For Martinelli though, this is all to no avail if he doesn't get the win.

"Right now, I'm just focused on the loss and hoping we make the Big Ten Tournament," Martinelli said when told of the record postgame. "It's a tribute to my teammates... It's a great honor and I take pride in wearing this jersey every single day."

Collins was more effusive in his praise of his star junior.

"If you don't see that Nick Martinelli is one of the very best players in this league, I don't know what you're watching," Collins said. "What's happened this year, with Brooks going down, Jalen going down, and lead us to four wins in 10 games...that's the sign of a heck of a player. He's a warrior, man. I love that he's on my team."

After Martinelli's 28, the next highest scorer was Ty Berry with 10. No one else took more than 10 field goals, no one else made more than three. Forget warrior; Martinelli was a one-man army.

"Everything Maryland was trying to do was to stop him and he still almost got 30," Collins said. "That should tell you just how good he is, and we just didn't give him enough help with the other guys."

Northwestern has a lot of needs heading into next season. They need more stability from young players like KJ Windham, who posted seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. They'll need to find replacements for veterans like Berry and center Matt Nicholson.

But one thing is for sure after these last 10 games: Martinelli is a cornerstone-caliber scorer and leader in this league. He'll be ready to carry the load as the Wildcats' No. 1 next season.

Another chapter in the refereeing saga: This game won't get the same billing as Northwestern's losses to Butler, Penn State, Michigan or UCLA, but the way the game was called by officials played a real role in the outcome. Maryland spent a quarter of the game in the bonus and NU was called for 22 fouls to the Terrapins' 14.

Collins demurred with caution to his checkbook yet again in the post-game press conference, though his frustration at his team's lack of respect remain a constant undercurrent in his comments.

"As a coach, you're fighting for your guys. I like my pay check...," he said. "We have to play through it. We're not a program that has won national championships, won the Big Ten... We have to earn that. But we do have 31 wins in the conference in the last three years."

It's a Rodney Dangerfield bit at this point, but Northwestern deserves more respect from the conference and the officials.

A berth in the Big Ten Tournament is still up in the air: Per Matt Hackman on X, Northwestern has just a 2% chance to miss the postseason tournament.

The routes eliminating NU are wins from USC, Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota; or USC, Michigan State, Iowa and Minnesota. In short, the best bet for Wildcat fans to sleep tight tonight is if UCLA dispatches USC in the Battle for LA. That would make the Wildcats are a lock.

"I hope we get a chance to play, it's not guaranteed. We needed to win to control our destiny getting to Indianapolis," Collins said. "I think we can compete [if we go], I think we're playing well. Our margin for error is slim."

With the minute chance that the season is over lingering, Martinelli and Collins reflected on their season potentially coming to a close.

"Obviously frustrating to not really ever have our full complement of guys," said Collins. "I felt if we were healthy, I thought we could compete. I know everyone picked us last this year on paper... We had a chance to really compete in this league. I just respect how our guys responded to everything that was thrown at them all year long.

"Injuries, tough calls, tough end-of-game situations...it showed resiliency of character. Although we only ended up with seven wins, sometimes it's misleading. You can feel really rewarded with a team that only wins seven games and, man, these last 10 games have been really rewarding to see our guys rally around each other."

When Leach went down with a torn ACL against USC on Feb. 4, the Wildcats lost 31.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game of production between him and Barnhzier, who was shut down after the Rutgers game on Jan. 29 with a broken foot.

No one would have been surprised to see the Wildcats lose to the Trojans that night and finish winless in their last eight games. Instead, Northwestern went 4-5 in that stretch, including a dominant three-game winning streak where they won each game by double-digits.

This isn't the season the Wildcats wanted to have and, given their outrageous string of bad luck, no one is discounting the 2% chance this was their final game. But one thing is for sure, no matter how the conference standings finally stack up: the Wildcats played hard every single game, no matter what kind of adversity they faced.

"We had countless things go against us with refs and players going down, but we showed up every single night," said Martinelli. "And I hope that the Northwestern fans and community can see that we showed up every single night and gave it our best effort.

"At times we didn't play the smartest, or missed shots or miscommunicated. But, at the end of the day, we played our butts off. That's why I'm proud.