COLLEGE PARK, Md. — My desk shook. It vibrated with an attention-grabbing intensity. On a chilly Tuesday night in Maryland, a giant was waking up, forcefully making its presence known. Maryland basketball wanted no part of the nonsense that upstart Northwestern had been spewing for the better part of a first half, and it was taking action.
The desk, behind one basket at the Xfinity Center, had University of Maryland students to thank for its trembling. Still on winter break, those students had come to watch their Terrapins beat Northwestern in a basketball game, and they had come in a subdued mood.