PURCHASE TICKETS

EVANSTON, Ill. -- A pair of teams on a roll square off at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday as Northwestern hosts No. 4/4 Maryland. Early-arriving fans will receive a Northwestern rally towel.

The Wildcats enter the contest having won 10 games in a row. It is just the second double-figure winning streak in school history and trails only a school-record 12-game streak from Dec. 8, 1930 through Feb. 14, 1931.

Northwestern enters Saturday's game having matched its best start to a season in school history. The 1930-31 Wildcats also started 13-1 en route to a 16-1 season and a Big Ten championship.

Northwestern is coming off an 81-72 comeback victory over Nebraska in the Big Ten opener for both teams in Lincoln on Wednesday. Freshman Dererk Pardon posted 28 points and 12 rebounds in just his second collegiate game as Northwestern rallied back from a 12-point second-half deficit. Tre Demps contributed 17 points. Nebraska led 38-35 at halftime and opened the second half on a 13-4 run to go up by 12. But Pardon posted 23 points and 11 rebounds in the second half alone to lead the comeback. His putback dunk with 4:03 remaing gave the Wildcats a lead they wouldn't surrender. NU made eight of nine free throw attempts over the final 1:33 to seal its 10th straight victory.

Pardon became the sixth Wildcat this season to score 20 or more points in a game, joining Bryant McIntosh, Tre Demps, Alex Olah, Scottie Lindsey and fellow freshman Aaron Falzon.

NU has been tough to beat at Welsh-Ryan Arena lately. Dating back to Feb. 15 of last season, the Wildcats currently boast a school-record 13-game home winning streak. The previous record was 12 in a row from 1933 through 1934.

The Wildcats earned a season-high 11 votes in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll. It is the fifth straight week that Northwestern has picked up votes in the poll.

Scouting Maryland
The Terrapins rallied back from a 13-point deficit with 6:34 to go to top Penn State 70-64 at home Wednesday in their Big Ten opener. Freshman Diamond Stone led Maryland back by scoring 39 points with 12 rebounds, including going 19 of 25 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Melo Trimble leds the team with averages of 14.5 points, 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Maryland leads the Big Ten with a .762 team free throw percentage and is second with a .517 field goal percentage. Mark Turgeon is in his fifth season as the head coach at Maryland.
 

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