With 11 minutes remaining in the Maryland men’s basketball team’s matchup with Northwestern on Tuesday, assistant coach Matt Brady stooped over Anthony Cowan, seeming to offer words of advice, as the guard sat on the bench for the longest period this season.

Having picked up his fourth foul moments earlier — and after just two minutes on the floor in the second half — Cowan trudged to the sideline. Despite a commanding lead, it remained to be seen who would step up in Cowan’s place to ensure the Terps maintained the advantage and bucked a two-game losing streak.

Forward Bruno Fernando filled that void, responding to Cowan’s foul trouble by adding one more highlight to a standout night. After receiving the ball beyond the arc, he faked a shot and hurled the ball to forward Jalen Smith, who was wide open beneath the basket. Smith slammed it home, Xfinity Center erupted and Northwestern coach Chris Collins called a timeout in an attempt to prevent Maryland from extending its 20-point lead.

Collins’ stoppage couldn’t stem the tide, and behind Fernando’s fourth consecutive and 13th overall double-double, No. 21 Maryland overcame the loss of Cowan to dispel Northwestern, 70-52.

“We’ve been able to play through Bruno a lot, and especially with Anthony sitting out most of the second half, it really helped us,” coach Mark Turgeon said. “It’s what we do. It’s who we are.”

[Read more: Maryland men’s basketball isn’t dwelling on its brutal loss to Illinois]

During a seven-game winning streak, Maryland (17-5, 8-3 Big Ten) had climbed to No. 13 — its highest mark since the 2015-16 season. But the Terps crashed down eight spots in this week’s Associated Press poll following back-to-back losses to No. 6 Michigan State and Big Ten bottom-dweller Illinois — the first an expected blip and the latter an undesirable showcase of just how young Turgeon’s team is.

For much of this season, the fifth-youngest team in the country hasn’t played like it. Five freshmen feature heavily in Turgeon’s top-eight, but the Spartans and Illini ran past Maryland for a combined 56 fast break points. The Terps recovered Tuesday, though.

While it took Cowan until the second half to score the bulk of his 18 points at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, the junior started his account early against the Wildcats.

[Read more: Maryland men’s basketball falls eight spots to No. 21 in AP poll after winless week]

On the Terps’ first possession down the floor, Cowan pulled up from the top of the key, swishing a three-pointer as Wildcats forward Vic Law fouled him. Cowan hit the ensuing free throw, then went on to score a fast-break layup as part of a 13-4 run to begin the game.

But six Maryland turnovers in just more than six minutes of play helped narrow Northwestern’s deficit midway through the opening frame, keeping the game tighter than it should’ve been. The Wildcats scored 11 points off seven first-half turnovers, while scoring 11 points on their other 28 possessions.

Overall, though, the Wildcats shot only 31 percent from the floor and converted just 5-of-23 threes.

“We couldn’t make them pay from the outside,” Collins said. “We had some good looks.”

After allowing Illinois to go on a 9-2 run to close the first half Saturday, Maryland managed to hold onto an 11-point edge at intermission Tuesday, largely through Fernando coming out on top in a physical matchup with Wildcats (12-9, 3-7) center Dererk Pardon.

When Pardon settled for a 3-point attempt with under five minutes in the first half, Cowan corralled the rebound and found Fernando striding down the floor, where he finished with a slam. Then, with his back to Pardon at the block, Fernando faked inside before leaving the 6-foot-8 senior in the dust for another layup.

“He’s a great player. We did a lot of scouting on him,” Fernando said. “I think I did a phenomenal job on him tonight, and it helped us get a win.”

With Cowan picking up his fourth foul just two minutes into his second-half playing time, Fernando helped build a hefty lead through his game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Smith chipped in 14 points and nine boards, while guard Eric Ayala bounced back from his zero-point, five-turnover display Saturday to provide eight points.

So, after back-to-back losses and foul trouble for Maryland’s most experienced ball handler, a young Terps team rallied to beat Northwestern in convincing fashion.

“I just knew that they were ready to come back and play well,” Turgeon said. “That’s a really good sign for me — I’ve just got to remind them that they’re a really good basketball team.”