Following big win at Michigan State; Maryland set to host Northwestern

Senior point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. has turned in plenty of clutch performances throughout his four-year career with the Terps, but perhaps none more so than Feb. 15 to propel No. 9 Maryland (21-4, 11-3 Big Ten) a 67-60 win at Michigan State (17-9, 9-6).

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Cowan’s game-high 24 points helped Maryland earn its first eight-game winning streak in Big Ten play since joining the conference in the 2014-15 season. It also kept the Terps atop the league standings.

The 6-foot Bowie, Maryland, native got off to a hot start in East Lansing, scoring 11 of Maryland’s first 18 points. He shot 2-for-3 from the field in the first half and was 7-for-7 from the line to head into halftime with 13. However, the Spartans ramped their defense up on Cowan in the second half and held him without another point until 2:24 was left on the clock. But the senior’s next bucket was a big one.

Cowan hit a three from the wing that made it a one-point game after the Terps had blown their lead and fell behind. Maryland scored the last 14 points of the game to retake the lead and earn the victory, and 11 of those points were scored by their senior leader, who hit a trio of three-pointers and sunk two free throws in the game’s final minutes. Cowan also added four rebounds and two steals to his totals.

His heroic effort was aided by the second half of Maryland’s one-two punch, sophomore forward Jalen “Stix” Smith, who finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth straight double-double and 16th of the year. Smith is now fourth in all of college basketball in double-doubles this season.

Like Cowan, Smith was huge for the Terps down the stretch, scoring 12 of his 17 points after halftime, including a three-pointer that stopped the bleeding once Michigan State was able to build a seven-point lead — its largest of the game.

Maryland led by as much as 15 in the first half and looked unstoppable early. But the Spartans made some defensive adjustments and started hitting their shots as well, going on a 7-0 in the final three minutes of the first half to cut the Terps’ lead to eight at halftime.

Michigan State carried its momentum over into the second half. The Spartans opened up on an 8-2 run to take the lead, but Maryland would continue to keep pace and stay within a few possessions throughout the course of the game.

Like its lead, Maryland also saw its favorable rebounding margin slip away as the game went on. The Terps ultimately finished the game with one more rebound than the Spartans, but Maryland had a plus-12 rebounding margin midway through the first half.

Michigan State’s charge was led by its two best players — senior point guard Cassius Winston and junior forward Xavier Tillman, who scored more than half of their team’s points on the night.

Winston netted 14 while Tillman scored a team-high 18 points against the Terps. Tillman also ripped down a game-high 11 rebounds.

While it was mostly a two-man show for each team on Saturday night, the Terps did receive some first-half help from sophomore guards Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins as well as freshman forward Donta Scott.

Ayala finished with nine points and had a stretch in the first half in which he scored seven on three straight buckets for Maryland. Scott also finished with nine points while chipping in five rebounds. Wiggins had seven points and six rebounds for the Terps.

When Maryland was scoring, much of it had to do with crisp ball movement. The Terps had 15 assists on 23 field goals against the Spartans. Timely scoring allowed Maryland to lead for 30 minutes of the 40-minute game.

The Terps have won eight straight games, but perhaps none more impressive than Saturday night’s win at the Breslin Student Events Center. They’ll return to College Park and turn their focus to a Northwestern team they beat 77-66 on the road Jan. 21. That was the Wildcats’ third of what has now become nine losses in a row.

In their first meeting, Northwestern gave Maryland everything it could handle early. The Wildcats were hitting shots at a high clip and playing sound defense, which helped them take a 40-26 lead into halftime.

But the Terps flipped the script in the second half and held the home team to just 26 points the rest of the way while scoring 51 of their own.

Smith was the catalyst that sparked Maryland’s strong second half. He finished with a game-high 25 points and also added 11 rebounds for the second double-double of his current streak.

Wiggins also helped carry the Terps in their first meeting with the Wildcats. He hit five three-pointers and finished with 17 points, which remains a career-high for the sophomore wing.

Cowan didn’t have his best shooting performance the first time around against Northwestern, going 2-for-10 from the field, but he found other ways to help his team, as senior leaders are tasked to do when the shots aren’t falling.

In the first meeting, Cowan went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and also dished out six assists while turning the ball over just once. Cowan and Smith both picked up four fouls as well, which added to the challenge of Maryland’s comeback on the road.

The 11-point win over Northwestern was Maryland’s first true road victory of the season. The Terps have not lost a road game — or any game for that matter — since.

Wildcats’ senior point guard Pat Spencer and sophomore forward Miller Kopp were the biggest headaches for Maryland the first time these teams squared off. Spencer had 17 points and Kopp netted 16. The latter has remained hot, scoring in double-figures in five of Northwestern’s six games since the loss to Maryland. But Spencer has yet to replicate the type of performance he had against the Terps.

Kopp is Northwestern’s leading scorer at 13.2 points per game, and the only other two Wildcats to average double digits are Spencer (10.7 PPG) and freshman guard Boo Buie (10.4 PPG).

Northwestern is a team that struggles to score but struggles even more on defense. Maryland is 14-0 at home this season and should remain undefeated in front of its home crowd on Feb. 18. It will be a battle of the Big Ten’s first place team against the conference’s last place squad when the Terps host the Wildcats at Xfinity Center for an 8 p.m. EST tip-off. The game will be broadcast on the Maryland Sports Radio Network and televised on the Big Ten Network.