WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The carpet was blue and the walls were painted white in the Northwestern locker room after Friday night's quarterfinal game against No. 25 Maryland in the Big Ten Conference quarterfinals.

But the purple reign of the Wildcats was in vogue, as Northwestern silenced a pro-Maryland crowd with a convincing 72-64 comeback win to advance to the conference semifinal contest Saturday afternoon against Wisconsin.

"They are going to be hungry," Wildcats starter Vic Law said of the Badgers, sitting in the locker room after beating the Terps. "I think we are locked in."

Northwestern guard Bryant McIntosh said the team is not looking ahead to a possible contest on Sunday in the title game.

"We have to take it game-by-game," he said after his team came back from a 10-point deficit in the second half.

Forward Law had 17 points and five rebounds, junior Scott Lindsey had 17 points and McIntosh added 16 points and six assists as the No. 6 seed beat No. 3 seed Maryland.

No. 25 Maryland (24-8) will wait to hear Sunday where it is headed for the NCAA Tournament.

Northwestern (23-10), set to make its first-ever NCAA appearance, was able to withstand a pro-Maryland crowd that watched the Terps turn the ball over in key stretches and go cold from the field at the wrong time.

"I just thought tonight was a high level game," Wildcats coach Chris Collins said. "It gave us the opportunity to do something that has never been done" and advance to the conference semifinals.

"I feel they believe ... they should win on this stage. That doesn't happen overnight," Collins added. "It has been an incredible year. I feel like I have improved a lot. There was a lot of stuff I didn't know. It has been fun for me to grow with the guys. We are a together group."

Melo Trimble had 20 points and four assists for the Terps, freshman Kevin Huerter added 19 points and freshman Anthony Cowan had 13. Huerter was held to seven points in the second half and Trimble made six turnovers while guard Cowan made five.

"They just took us out of our offense," Trimble said.

Huerter had a bad game in a win at Northwestern on Feb. 15 when Trimble scored 32 points.

"I tried to be more aggressive in this game," Huerter said.

The Wildcats, who trailed 44-34 early in the second half, took the lead at 48-46 with 11:09 left on a basket by Law.

Northwestern extended the margin to 56-49 on a basket by Derek Pardon to cap a 15-3 run with 6:41 to go in the game. Trimble cut the margin to 56-53 on a layup with 5:18 left, but Law scored later to give the Wildcats a 60-53 lead with 3:49 remaining.

Lindsey scored with 3:21 left to up the margin to 62-53 and senior Sanjay Lumpkin made two free throws with 2:16 to make it 66-57 as the Wildcats pulled away. Lumpkin did not play in the previous game against Maryland.

"It is huge. It was a home game for them," said Wildcats reserve Barret Benson.

Maryland, which trailed by 10 in the first half, scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 44-34 lead on a layup by Trimble with 16:25 to go.

But Northwestern responded again, tying the score at 46 on a basket by freshman Isiah Brown with 12:16 left. The Wildcats had a 7-0 run to assume a 48-46 lead on a basket by Law. A basket by Gavin Skelly upped the margin to 50-46.

Maryland tied the score at 18 on a basket by Huerter with 11:00 left in the first half. But Northwestern went on a 10-0 run, which included a 3-pointer by Lindsey and a basket by Law that gave the Wildcats a 28-20 lead.

Maryland, however, battled back and led 36-34 at halftime as Trimble had nine points and four rebounds.

"I'm really disappointed in the way we finished the game," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. "They were good; give them credit. I'm happy for Chris. They were just physical. They pushed us out a little bit further than we were accustomed to. We had a lot of turnovers from the point guard position tonight. It was a game of runs. It was amazing. We just have to play better. We are better than we played."

"We just have to try and forget about this game," Huerter said. "We have to try and get past it and move on."

NOTES: The game was played about 12 miles southwest of the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Md. ... Terps G Melo Trimble had 32 points in a win at Northwestern on Feb. 15. ... Northwestern reserve F Charlie Hall is the son of Veep and Seinfeld alum Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who grew up in nearby Maryland and was at the game. ... The Wildcats were 5 of 9 from the free throw line in the first half and Maryland was 5 of 5. ... Maryland alum Scott Van Pelt of ESPN was also on hand.