COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Freshman Bryant McIntosh scored 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting and sophomore Sanjay Lumpkin came off the bench to score 12, but Northwestern was unable to hold off No. 13/8 Maryland as Dez Wells hit the game winner with 1.4 seconds to give the Terrapins a win at the XFINITY Center, 68-67.
The Wildcats fell behind for the first time in the contest with 20.6 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Melo Trimble, but junior Tre Demps hit a clutch stepback jumper with 9.3 ticks on the clock to give them the lead right back, 67-66.
Without a timeout, Trimble rushed up the court and his long three-point attempt missed, but Wells was there for the rebound and banked a shot in off the tip to hand the Wildcats the loss.
NU fell to 10-10 on the season and 1-6 in conference play.
Each of the Wildcats' last five defeats have come by seven points or less, including the last three by a total of five points.
Both squads got off to great offensive starts, --Northwestern in particular - as the Wildcats connected on 10 of their first 13 field goal attempts, including a 5 of 7 from behind the arch, in jumping out to a 25-13 lead. Back-to-back triples by Sanjay Lumpking punctuated the start and forced the Terrapins to burn a timeout midway through the half.
Defensively, Alex Olah, Jeremiah Kreisberg and Vic Law all drew charges on the Terrapins by the time eight minutes had passed in the opening half.
The 'Cats eventually cooled off and Maryland rattled off seven straight points to close to within 25-20 with 7:26 remaining in the half. The lead was still five when Tre Demps hit a triple and Bryant McIntosh scored in the lane before Demps got into the lane and scored as well to make it 34-22.
A Maryland 3-pointer closed the hosts to within 10 with two minutes to go, but Dave Sobolewski answered it with one of his own as Northwestern eventually took a 41-30 lead into halftime.
The Wildcats shot a blistering 69.6 percent from the field (16-23) over the opening 20 minutes of play, including 7 of 12 from 3-point range. NU also finished the stanza with a 16-7 rebounding edge. McIntosh paced the guests with 13 first-half points of 6-of-8 shooting.
Maryland tallied the first five points of the second half to close to within six, but the Wildcats responded with eight consecutive of their own to push the lead back up to 14, 49-35.
The Terrapins would gradually chip away at the deficit as a 13-4 run got the hosts to within 55-50 with 8:34 still remaining. Olah's bucket down low stopped the run and consecutive baskets by McIntosh pushed the lead back to 11 with just under five minutes left.
Maryland refused to go away, though, as a seven-point run closed Northwestern's lead to 63-59 with two minutes remaining.
A runner in the lane by JerShon Cobb put the Wildcats back up six, 65-59, with 1:24 remaining, but the Terrapins scored the next seven points of the contest to take their first lead of the game and set up the finish.
Lumpkin provided a spark off the bench with a perfect 4-for-4 night, including 3-for-3 from behind the arc, to score in double figures for the fifth time this season. Cobb finished with seven points, as well a team-high eight rebounds and five assists.
The Wildcats shot 54.2 percent (26-for-48) from the floor, including 40 percent (8-for-20) from behind the arc. NU also held an advantage on the boards, 32-27.
Northwestern is back in action at 5 p.m. Saturday when it host Purdue at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tickets are available at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter and Instagram, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!