Northwestern explodes behind the arc, takes down Maryland
Nick Martinelli scored 29 points as Northwestern surged in the second half in snapping a five-game losing streak with a 78-74 Big Ten victory over Maryland on Wednesday in Evanston, Ill.
Jordan Clayton scored 18 of his career-high 20 points from beyond the arc for the Wildcats (11-16, 3-13), who entered as the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten but made 12 of 21 (57.1%) attempts from deep and shot 48.1% overall.
From deep, Clayton drained 6 of 7 attempts and Martinelli made 3 of 6. Jake West added 2 of 3 accuracy from deep and contributed seven assists.
Angelo Ciaravino chipped in with 16 points as Northwestern enhanced its chances of avoiding a bottom-four finish in the league, which brings with it an opening-round game in the Big Ten Tournament next month.
Andre Mills scored a career-high 39 points to pace Maryland (11-16, 3-12), which lost its second straight.
The Terrapins hit 44.4% of their shots including 8 of 24 (33.3%) from 3-point range.
Maryland grabbed its biggest lead of the game, 50-44, when Solomon Washington, who finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds, scored on a putback with 13:21 left.
But Northwestern answered with a barrage of triples. In a span of less than 2 minutes, Clayton made a trio of 3-pointers and West added another.
When Ciaravino scored on a putback, it completed a 14-point blitz which gave the Wildcats a 58-50 lead with 9:07 left.
After that, Maryland didn't slice the deficit to less than five points until Mills made a triple with 1 second left.
In the first half, after four early lead changes, Northwestern gained a 16-10 advantage with 11 of the points coming from Martinelli.
The Wildcats led for the rest of the first half, gaining their biggest lead, 27-19, when Clayton drained a triple with 8:20 left in the period.
The Terrapins cut the deficit to 35-34 at the break as they scored the final three baskets of the half, including one by Mills who finished the period with 22 points.
When Mills made a 3-pointer less than 2 minutes into the second half, it gave Maryland its first lead since the opening minutes, 39-38, and established a new career high for the freshman.