Despite two wins in its past three games, Maryland men’s basketball is having a season to forget. The Terps have the most double-digit losses among power conference teams and are fresh off an 11-point road defeat to Rutgers.

But even without the results to back it up, Buzz Williams has credited his players for their consistent fight this season. 

Down by 12 points against Northwestern with seven minutes to go, Maryland could have tossed in the towel. Instead, the Terps clawed their way back, drawing as close as five points. But consecutive empty possessions, including a poor pass from Darius Adams sealed the deal.

Amid a 39-point performance from Andre Mills, Maryland fell to Northwestern, 78-74, Wednesday night at Welsh Ryan Arena. The Terps drop to 3-11 in Big Ten play, the fourth-worst record in the conference.

While Maryland doesn’t have much to play for — outside of avoiding the program’s worst record in over three decades — its remaining six games provide Buzz Williams a chance to continue developing his young players.

The Terps have seven freshmen on the roster, with a pair expected to be key pieces on next season’s team. During its recent improvement, Maryland has relied on Mills and Darius Adams to shoulder the scoring load.

Mills, in particular, has been more aggressive offensively over the last seven games. He has totaled double-figures in five of those contests, including a run of four consecutive. 

However, Mills put together one of his worst shooting performances of the season against Rutgers on Sunday. The redshirt freshman tied his season-high with 14 shot attempts, but only made two of them.

Mills quickly erased that dreadful outing, though. In the opening minutes of Wednesday’s contest, he attempted Maryland’s first four shots, and was quite successful. Mills scored Maryland’s first eight points and dished out an early assist to Collin Metcalf.

But he was just getting started. Mills continued to pour it on in the first half, finishing with 20 points at the break on 8-of-10 shooting. That included a trio of triples — nearly tying his season-high in just the opening 20 minutes.

When Mills was on the court, he was effectively Maryland’s only offense. And that strategy was working too. Mills’ offensive explosion helped the Terps keep pace with the Big Ten’s leading scorer.

While Northwestern is tied for the fewest conference wins alongside Penn State and Oregon, Nick Martinelli has been the team’s lone bright spot. The senior entered Wednesday’s game dropping 22.1 points per contest, which is the eighth-highest mark in the nation.

In an effort to slow down Martinelli, Solomon Washington drew the assignment of guarding the 6-foot-7 forward. But not even Maryland’s top defender had any answers for the big man. Martinelli contributed 11 of Northwestern’s first 16 points to help open an eight-point lead.

After his hot start, the Terps keyed in on Martinelli. It paid dividends. He scored just two points in the final 14 minutes of the first half. That coincided with Maryland’s improved defensive effort — it allowed just 14 points in the latter part of the opening period.

With the Wildcats struggling to score, the Terps began to chip away at their eight-point deficit. Maryland embarked on a 15-7 run to trail by just one point at the half.

The Terps’ offensive momentum carried into the second half. Adams and Diggy Coit totaled eight early points and Washington finished off a second-chance layup to help open up Maryland’s six-point lead.

But that would be the last time the Terps were in front. Across the ensuing six minutes, Northwestern culminated in a 22-4 run to erase its deficit and open a commanding lead. 

It was Jordan Clayton who kickstarted the Wildcats’ stretch. The junior guard erupted for 12 second-half points, including a perfect 4-of-4 outing from deep. Clayton finished with a career-high 18 points.

Alongside Clayton’s offensive surge, Martinelli came to life in the second half. He added 16 points en route to a team-high 29 points.

Even with Mills outdoing Martinelli, Maryland’s sloppy play hindered the team from securing a fourth Big Ten victory. The Terps committed 15 turnovers — 10 of which came from Adams, Mills and Washington. That led to 17 Northwestern points, ultimately too much for Maryland to overcome.