EVANSTON, Ill. -- Maryland made certain it was ready on Saturday.

Mindful of an epic battle last year with Northwestern and a 70-64 come-from-behind victory over Penn State last Wednesday, the No. 4 Terrapins turned in a dominating first half performance and kept the Wildcats at arm's length in the second in a 72-59 Big Ten victory at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

"The way they played at our place last year (a 68-67 Terrapin win) really got our attention (and) I thought defensively we were really, really good." said Maryland coach Mark Turgeon. "Our guys, they know they weren't great in the home opener against Penn State and they wanted to redeem themselves."

Guard Melo Trimble scored a game-high 24 points -- including five 3-pointers -- while guard Rasheed Sulaimon had four 3-pointers among his 16 points as the Terrapins won their seventh straight.

Center Diamond Stone added 10 points while Trimble collected eight rebounds and eight assists.

Off to the best start in school history, Northwestern (13-2, 1-1) saw a 10-game winning streak snapped by what coach Chris Collins called one of the nation's elite teams.

"They're really good, they have a chance to win the whole thing ... and they're a veteran team," Collins said. "They're playing just one freshman (Stone) and he's a monster. I hope this can be a learning experience for us."

Guard Bryant McIntosh topped Northwestern (13-2, 1-1) with 17 points and nine assists.

The Wildcats shot 37.3 percent from the field, were two-for-20 on 3-pointers and committed 12 turnovers. Maryland shot 46.6 percent from the field and hit 11 of 31 tries from beyond the arc.

The Terrapins opened a 44-22 lead -- matching their biggest of the night -- early in the second half. The Wildcats briefly fired up the home crowd with a surge that cut the deficit to 15 points at 47-32 on McIntosh's layup with 13:15 left.

Northwestern never got any closer than 14 points until the final minute.

Maryland pushed the lead past 20 points at on Trimble's 3-point play for a 67-46 lead with 5:09 remaining.

"We were disruptive," Turgeon said. "I thought our energy level was great in the first half. We had energy defensively and it showed. I wish we had rebounded a little better on some of their misses but our guys were real dialed in."

Maryland's loss was an 89-81 verdict to North Carolina in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge on Dec. 1.

Sulaimon scored 13 first-half points and hit double figures with his third 3-pointer of the game to give Maryland a 33-14 lead at the 3:45 mark. Trimble added seven points and dished out seven assists.

It was 40-20 at halftime as the Terrapins scored 12 points on fast breaks and scored nine points off eight Wildcat turnovers.

"It was the most determined and best I've seen (the Terrapins) defensively all year," Collins said. "They did a great job with their length and athleticism forcing us out of the things we like to do. And I thought we were a little bit jittery in the first half. We had some uncharacteristic turnovers and got sped up a little bit."

After one tie and three early lead changes, Maryland sprinted out front with a 9-0 run en route to a 12-4 advantage and never trailed again.

Both teams are back in action Wednesday as Maryland hosts Rutgers while Ohio State visits Northwestern.

NOTES: Maryland C Diamond Stone had an impressive Big Ten debut, scoring a freshman record 39 points in the Terrapins' 70-64 home victory over Penn State last week. ... Maryland is the only Big Ten team with five players averaging 10 or more points per game. G Melo Trimble leads with a 14.5 point average. ... Saturday's game was only the fourth all-time meeting with Maryland leading the series 3-1. ... Northwestern rallied from a 12-point deficit in Wednesday's 81-72 victory at Nebraska to improve to 13-1 overall, the best start in program history. ... Wildcats C Alex Olah remained sidelined for the third straight game with a left foot injury.