Northwestern was unable to maintain the momentum from its upset win over Ohio State, and was solidly defeated by No. 8 Maryland 80-62. Maryland's skill was on full display all day as they were never really threatened by the Wildcats and controlled the pace of play on both sides of the ball.
It was an inauspicious start for Northwestern (13-5, 2-4) as Maryland (16-2, 5-1) jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead within the first two minutes and forced head coach Joe McKeown to burn an early timeout. Maryland cooled off a bit as the quarter progressed, but Northwestern was ice cold, only scoring 13 points on 5-of-21 shooting.