Maryland Basketball: Northwestern comeback win shows Terps growth

Maryland Basketball flexed their muscles Tuesday night in their second-half comeback victory over Northwestern. Can this performance boost their confidence moving forward?

Maryland Basketball fans have seen this movie before.

A sluggish, lazy first half, falling behind to a team that they should have no problem struggling to beat.

Winless on the road so far this season, Maryland (15-4, 5-3) had to change something at halftime to avoid a season-derailing upset to Northwestern (6-12, 1-7).

And they did just that.

Coming out of the locker room to start the second half, the Terps had a new level of intensity. They were louder, crisper and more energetic than they were at tip-off, and it showed in their play.

A quick three from Aaron Wiggins began the scoring in the second half for Maryland, and the second the ball rippled through the net, it seemed to light a fire under the entire team. Guys were more talkative on the court, and the bench became a factor, starting to energize the players.

These are the kinds of things that good teams need to do in order to win games in the Big Ten. Especially for a team like Maryland, who had not won a true road contest this season and was in dire need of some sort of momentum away from College Park. Being able to win on the road is key for the confidence of a team, and one guy who is lacking zero confidence right now for Maryland is Jalen Smith.

Stix is becoming a grown man right before our eyes

The sophomore from Baltimore had the best game of his career Tuesday night, dropping a career-high 25 points, 21 coming after halftime, along with 11 rebounds and 2 steals. He went 7-13 from the field, controlling the paint and propelling Maryland to this comeback win.

His ability to shoot the three at 39.5% this season has helped his game take a massive leap from the year before. The pick and pop that is run with him and Anthony Cowan Jr. has become a staple in Maryland’s offense, causing the defense to pick their poison. Teams are more likely to focus on the speed of Cowan, who has the ability to blow past any defender and get to the basket with ease. This leaves Smith open for three, and he has capitalized, knocking down 2 threes in five of his last six games.

He also added four ferocious dunks, as well as going a perfect 9/9 from the free throw line in the win Tuesday night.

If this is the sign of things to come for Smith, this team can go a long way. He is one of Maryland’s main catalysts, and when he is making his shots and playing his role, this team is hard to stop.

Another guy who has emerged from a slump is Aaron Wiggins.

After going scoreless in the January 10th road loss at Iowa, the sophomore guard has found his stroke again, knocking down multiple threes against both Wisconsin and Purdue. Wiggins was hot yet again on Tuesday, connecting with 5 long balls against Northwestern.

All of this has come after head coach Mark Turgeon has brought him off the bench, hoping to take some of the pressure off of him. He is a guy that needs to continue attacking the basket and shooting at a high level. Like Smith, when Wiggins is on, Maryland plays at a high level.

After a hot-shooting effort against Purdue this past Saturday, the guards for Maryland struggled to find their rhythm from the field against Northwestern. The trio of Cowan, Eric Ayala, and Darryl Morsell shot 3-21 combined from the field in this game. Although Cowan and Ayala both hit timely threes, one from Cowan to give Maryland the lead and one late from Ayala to add a cushion, these struggles can’t happen if this team wants to be successful.

The next matchup for the Terps proves to be one of the biggest of the season, as they travel to Bloomington to take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday. Indiana (14-4, 4-3) has already faced Maryland once this season, falling 75-59 on January 4th in College Park. The Terps have shown to be a much different team playing away from their home stadium, but maybe this first road victory against Northwestern will start an upward trend for Maryland in games other than in College Park.