In what could be their final home game, Maryland men’s basketball’s seniors earned an emphatic 75-59 win against No. 21 Northwestern on Feb. 26.
Maryland improved to 20-9 overall, 11-7 in the Big Ten and 10-0 in conference play at home. The Terps matched their 2019-20 home record of 16-1.
“Going 10-0 in this conference at home, that’s pretty impressive for this group,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “I just think it shows you how great of a program this is, how great of a fan base it is. I think the fan base really got behind this group. I think they appreciated how hard they worked and how they play.”
Don Carey, Patrick Emilien, Hakim Hart, Donta Scott and Jahmir Young were all recognized before the noon tipoff in what was possibly the final game at Xfinity Center for all of them.
“I don’t think I’ve won a senior night game in forever,” Willard said. “It was kind of fun because I’ve only been with them for a year, but they mean the same amount [as players from Seton Hall]. I just told them I wanted to have fun. I never have fun on senior night. I’m an emotional wreck. … I just wanted them to have fun, and I was going to have fun no matter what. If we would have gotten blown out by 20 I was going to enjoy the fact that this group has worked really hard.”
Carey, Emilien and Young were brought in by Willard after he was hired last March.
“My main goal when I brought those guys in was I wanted high-character guys,” Willard said. “I wanted guys that when people came to watch us play, watch us practice and brought recruits in and they took them out that there was a culture that was a set. … They have set the tone and set the culture at a very high standard and that was my goal.”
Carey has no eligibility left, so he made sure to take in his last home game as a college player.
“It was really a bittersweet feeling,” Carey said of his final game. “To do that on senior night is definitely something special. But more importantly, I just think about the crowd. We’ve got one of the best crowds in the country, so not being able to play in front of them at home again is tough, so I was just blowing them a kiss to show them I appreciate them.”
Scott (11 points), Hart (10 points and 7 assists) and Carey (13 points, 4-for-7 from 3-point range) all had productive days, but Young led the way with 16 first-half points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to the end it. He finished with 18 points and went 4-for-7 from deep.
“I feel like the crowd was into it. It helped us a little bit,” Young said. “Just seeing your family on the side — all the people that came to support you — just gives you an extra little oomph. You just want to go out there and play even harder for them.”
Similar to the 88-70 win on Feb. 22 against Minnesota, seemingly every shot for Maryland was falling in the first half against Northwestern. The Terps shot 16-for-26 (61.5 percent) from the floor and 8-for-11 from 3-point range against the Wildcats after shooting 4-for-5 from distance in the first half against the Gophers.
However, Northwestern was also able to knock down shots at a high percentage during the first 20 minutes. The Wildcats nearly shot the same percentage as the Terps. Northwestern finished the first half 16-for-27 (59.3 percent) and 4-for-10 from 3-point range.
The two teams went back and forth with nine lead changes and nine ties in the first half alone. However, after Young’s buzzer-beating three to end the first half, Northwestern did not claim another lead.
“Nine lead changes, we knew it wasn’t going to be a walkthrough or anything like that. They’re a great team,” Young said. “We knew it was going to be a battle. It was going to be a dogfight, so I feel like that momentum swing was big, just for us to be up at half and just to go into the second half with the utmost amount of confidence that could win the game.”
The two-point halftime differential ended up spelling doom for the Wildcats, as they struggled from deep during the second half. The Wildcats finished the game 5-for-19 from 3-point range.
Maryland, on the other hand, could not miss. The Terps finished the game with a season-best 14 made threes on 63.6 percent shooting (14-for-22). Maryland’s 14 threes are tied for the second most in program history in a single game.
“Going for 14-for-22 in a conference game, good things are going to happen,” Willard said. “I thought we actually played good defense in the first half. We had three big breakdowns. … We just watched filmed at halftime — it was just mental breakdowns. I thought we did a much better job toward the end of the shot clock not losing two of the best guards in the conference.”
“I think our defense has created opportunities where we’ve been able to get easier shots,” Willard added. “… When you play at Wisconsin you don’t get a whole lot of transition threes. When you play at Purdue you don’t get a whole lot of transition opportunities. It’s just not the way the league’s designed. At home, I think we’ve taken advantage of being aggressive on defense. Even though it’s led to some breakdowns, it’s given us some opportunities to get some easy threes in transition.”
Maryland will now play its final two games on the road, where they have struggled. Maryland is 2-7 in true road games. Willard believes the Terps have been close, but ultimately it’s hard to win on the road in the Big Ten.
“It’s hard to win on the road in this conference,” Willard said. “I think this group has gotten better on the road. … I think they understand that at times you have to grind it out. You have to do a much better job on the road of grinding it out a little bit and slowing it down. When we slow it down, it’s really not how we’re made.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics