Maryland @ Northwestern preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 29, 2019 ) Northwestern 52, Maryland 70

No. 17 Maryland looks to pick up its first road win of the season when it faces Northwestern in Big Ten play on Tuesday. The Terrapins have lost four road games in the 2019-20 campaign, including a pair of defeats at 19th-ranked Iowa (67-49) and Wisconsin (56-54) in the month of January, and hope to build on a 57-50 victory over Purdue on Saturday by taking down the Wildcats for the fourth consecutive time.

“It’s a great win for us and we did a lot of things great,” Maryland coach Mark Turgeon told reporters. “Coming off a tough loss on the road that we probably could’ve won but we didn’t and our guys responded.” Northwestern remained in last place after dropping a 75-71 decision at No. 22 Illinois on Saturday. The Wildcats are off to their worst conference start since 2014-15 and have lost 22 of their last 27 Big Ten games, including two in a row, as they hope to turn their fortunes around by knocking off the Terrapins in the regular season for the first time in 62 years. “We knew we were going to throw lot of young kids into the fire and when you do that you go through some growing pains,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins told reporters. “I see a team that’s getting better every game they play and they can’t get discouraged.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports 1

ABOUT MARYLAND (14-4, 4-3 Big Ten): Jalen Smith scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win against Purdue to record his ninth double-double of the season, which is the third-most in the Big Ten. Freshman Donta Scott added a career-high 13 points and six rebounds, while Aaron Wiggins came off the bench for the second straight game to finish with 12 points and seven rebounds as the Terrapins held Purdue to 35.7 percent shooting from the floor. “I don’t pay attention to it, I just want to win,” Wiggins told reporters. “If that’s what coach feels is best for the team, then I’m willing to do it.”

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (6-11, 1-6): Robbie Beran scored a career-high 17 points and corralled five rebounds, while fellow freshman forward Miller Kopp added 16 in the loss to Illinois to finish in double figures for the seventh consecutive time. Pat Spencer tallied 10 of his 14 points in the first half while freshman center Ryan Young had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, but the Wildcats suffered their 10th straight conference road defeat. Sophomore Pete Nance, who is averaging 9.3 points and 6.6 rebounds, matched his season low with three points on 1-of-7 shooting, as he was limited to fewer than 10 points for the sixth time in his last seven games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Maryland has won eight of the last nine meetings with Northwestern.

2. Kopp has made at least five shots from the field in each of his last four games.

3. Maryland G Anthony Cowan Jr. leads the Big Ten in free throws made (86).

PREDICTION: Maryland 64, Northwestern 59