EVANSTON, Ill. _ The Maryland men's basketball team seemed to going through the motions in the first half Tuesday night against Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The 17th-ranked Terps were not only stagnant on offense, settling for 3-point shots that rattled off the rim or overshot the basket entirely, but they were also slow to get out on the Wildcats' shooters on defense.
Faced with a 14-point deficit at halftime, matching the biggest halftime deficit of the season, Maryland woke up midway through the second half. Led by sophomore forward Jalen Smith, the Terps stormed back to beat the Wildcats, 77-66. Smith finished with a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds, his 10th double double of the season, in helping the Terps secure their first road victory of the season.
Graduate transfer Pat Spencer, who continued his remarkable transition from the best lacrosse player in the country at Loyola Maryland to a starting point guard for a Big Ten team, led Northwestern (6-12, 1-7 Big Ten) with 17 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore wing Aaron Wiggins added a career-high 17 points in his third straight game off the bench.
Trailing 53-43 with 12:25 to go, the Terps (15-4, 5-3) went on a 13-2 run to take their first lead of the game. After Spencer scored on two free throws and a reverse layup to give the Wildcats a 59-58 lead, Spencer followed a 3-point shot by sophomore guard Eric Ayala with a shot in the lane. It was the last time Maryland trailed.
Two free throws by junior guard Darryl Morsell _ the second coming after Northwestern was called for a lane violation _ started a game-ending 14-5 run by the Terps. Maryland was also helped by shooting 26-for-29 from the from the free-throw line, including a perfect 9-for-9 effort by Smith. After missing seven of their first eight 3-point shots, Maryland hit 12 of its last 25.
The comeback victory, even coming against the Big Ten's last-place team, helped the Terps avoid what would have been their worst defeat of the season and might take some of the growing heat on Maryland coach Mark Turgeon after last week's last-second loss at Wisconsin. Maryland will take a two-game winning streak into Indiana Sunday, where the Terps have not won since joining the Big Ten.
