EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Jalen Smith scored a career-high 25 points, and No. 17 Maryland rallied to beat Northwestern 77-66 on Tuesday night. The Terrapins trailed by as much as 15 in the first half and were down 10 in the second when they went on a 15-2 run. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Aaron Wiggins and Anthony Cowan Jr. gave Maryland (15-4, 5-3 Big Ten) its first lead of the game at 56-55 with 9:10 remaining before Smith punctuated it with a hard dunk. Smith also hit a huge 3 with just under two minutes left to make it 72-63, sending the Terrapins to their second straight win after back-to-back losses. Pat Spencer led Northwestern (6-12, 1-7) with 17 points. But the Wildcats lost for the eighth time in nine games.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — No. 21 Illinois used a second-half offensive flurry to pull away from Purdue 79-62 for its fifth consecutive win. Kofi Cockburn scored 22 points to lead the Fighting Illini on Tuesday night. Trent Frazier had 21. Illinois swept the Boilermakers for the first time since 2008-09 and is off to its best start in Big Ten play since 2005-06. Nojel Eastern led Purdue with 14 points as the Boilermakers' 15-game winning streak in home conference games came to an end. Illinois erased a 30-29 halftime deficit by scoring the first seven points of the second half and never trailed again.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Brad Davison scored 14 points, D'Mitrik Trice added 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and Wisconsin used a big second half to power past Nebraska 82-68. After leading 39-38 at halftime, the Badgers opened the second half on a 20-4 run to hand the Cornhuskers their fourth straight loss. Davison sparked the surge by knocking down back-to-back 3s out of the locker room. Dachon Burke Jr. had a game-high 20 points and Kevin Cross scored 17 off the bench for Nebraska, which countered with a 19-7 run of its own to pull within 66-61.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State says former assistant coach Kerry Coombs is coming back to the Buckeyes as defensive coordinator. Coombs spent 2012-2017 on the Ohio State staff as cornerbacks coach. He's spent the past two seasons in the NFL as cornerbacks coach for the Tennessee Titans. Coombs moves into the slot vacated by Jeff Hafley, who was hired as head coach at Boston College. Coombs coached five first-round draft choices from his unit while with the Buckeyes. Every starting Ohio State cornerback in Coombs’ six-year tenure reached the NFL.
UNDATED (AP) — Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Ohio State defensive end Chase Young and Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor are among 99 juniors granted eligibility by the NFL into the draft. The NFL on Tuesday released the official list of 120 players who gave up college eligibility to enter the draft. Most previously made their intentions public. Among that 120 are 16 players who notified the NFL they had completed college degree requirements and were therefore eligible to be selected in the April 23-25 draft in Las Vegas. The total of 120 players who left behind college eligibility to enter the draft is down from the record 132 last season. The 99 juniors granted early entry by the league is also down from 103 last year.