Vic Law and Scottie Lindsey led a balanced attack with 16 points apiece as Northwestern advanced to the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals with an 83-61 victory over Rutgers on Thursday at the Verizon Center.

Dererk Pardon and Bryant McIntosh each added 13 points as the sixth-seeded Wildcats (22-10) set up a Friday date with No. 3 seed Maryland.

Nigel Johnson scored a game-high 21 points and Corey Sanders added 14 as No. 14 seed Scarlet Knights (15-18) saw a two-game winning streak snapped.

Northwestern took early command, employing a 31-0 first-half run for a 37-9 lead before Rutgers broke an 0-for-14 shooting streak with a Johnson 3 pointer.

The Scarlet Knights tightened the game slightly, outscoring the Wildcats 15-5 over the final 6:02 to slice 10 points off the deficit. Still, Northwestern maintained a comfortable lead at 42-24 by halftime behind 12 points from Law and 10 from Pardon.

Rutgers climbed to within 15 points in the second half after a Sanders 3-point play made it 46-31 with 17:34 showing. But it never got closer as Northwestern restored a 20-point lead six minutes later and pushed it to 28 points at 71-45 after a Lindsey jumper with 6:44 to play.

The Wildcats' lead never slipped under 20 the rest of the way.

NOTES: Rutgers fell twice to Northwestern in the regular season, 69-60 on Jan 12 and 69-65 on Feb. 18. ... The Scarlet Knights advanced to Thursday's game with a stunning 66-57 victory on Wednesday over Ohio State. ... Rutgers has more than doubled its win total from last year (7-25). ... G Corey Sanders earned all-Big Ten honorable mention this week. ... Northwestern G Bryant McIntosh was consensus All-Big Ten second team, G Scottie Lindsey landed on the coaches' third team while F Vic Law was named to the all-defensive team. ... The Wildcats came into the tourney with four losses in their last six games but still ended up as the school's all-time winningest team.