Maryland has the pieces to be the best team in the country. Can they get there?

About 10 minutes before tip-off on Saturday night, as a sold out crowd filed in to watch Northwestern host Maryland, the anticipation that swept through Welsh-Ryan Arena suggested this was not a typical night of Wildcats basketball.

Northwestern was 13-1, off to its best start in school history. The Terrapins were the No. 4 team in the country. Hanging over everything was Northwestern’s dark history of never making the NCAA Tournament, with this game presenting a golden opportunity for the type of signature win that could potentially propel them there.

The crowd was buzzing, so much so that Northwestern coach Chris Collins admitted the atmosphere caught his players off guard. KenPom called it a 50-50 toss-up. Our own Maryland site picked Northwestern to win. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, whose son is a freshman walk-on for the ‘Cats, was even in attendance. If there was ever a night for Northwestern hoops to shine, this had to be it.

So much of the wonder of college basketball lies in these moments, the space between the first suspicion an upset and the tense, fragile instances when they come to fruition or die on contact. Northwestern had playmaking guards, a disciplined scheme and a long, athletic freshman big man in Dererk Pardon. It had reason to believe. All Maryland did was stomp out every last bit of hope that existed inside the building.

The final margin -- Maryland 72, Northwestern 59 -- didn’t do the Terrapins’ domination justice. Maryland was bigger, faster and stronger at every position. It rained 11 three-pointers over a zone defense and suffocated the Wildcats into shooting just 2-of-20 from deep on their own. Melo Trimble and Rasheed Sulaimon hit back-breaking shots at the end of the shot clock whenever the crowd thought it might get close. It never did.

“We ran into a buzzsaw,” Collins said on Monday. “Maryland is really, really good.”

There’s a temptation to call this a statement win for Maryland, but the truth is this team’s aspirations go so much higher than beating Northwestern on the road.

Maryland still has a ways to go, and they know it. But when everything is clicking like it was on Saturday, there’s little doubt that the Terrapins can be as good as any team in the country. Even if coach Mark Turgeon won’t acknowledge it, the goal here is nothing short of a national championship. It’s possible an opportunity like this season doesn’t come around again for Maryland for a long time.

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There are certain years in when everything falls into place for a particular program. It’s happened for Maryland this season.

Trimble could have entered the NBA draft after his freshman year, but chose to come back. five-star big man Diamond Stone could have played for any program in the country, but he chose to come to College Park. Transfers like Sulaimon and Robert Carter could have been primary options elsewhere, but chose to play a role for what’s potentially a Final Four team.

The result is a roster that, on paper, looks more talented than even college basketball’s traditional heavyweights.

The offense is led by Trimble’s dynamic shot creation. He’s shooting 40 percent on 4.6 attempts from three per game, he’s top 50 in the country in assist rate and he’s capable of drawing fouls at will -- as evidence by the 18 free throws he shot against Georgetown (he made 13) and 15 free throws he shot against UConn (he made 14) earlier this season.

Trimble is so deadly partially because he’s allowed to play in an ocean of space -- Maryland can have four three-point shooters on the floor at any given time. Sulaimon (making 50 percent of his threes), Jake Layman and Jared Nickens are each capable shooters from deep hitting at least 35 percent behind the arc. Even Carter, who’s more of an interior force than a floor stretcher, has hit nine triples this year to at least keep defenses honest.

Then there’s Stone, the player that truly pushes this group of the top. The No. 6 overall prospect in the class of 2015 according to ESPN, Stone’s spring decision to join Maryland gave the Terps one of the country’s most promising interior scorers. He’s validated the hype completely to this point, scoring in double figures the last seven games including a ridiculous 39-point, 12-rebound demolition of Penn State in the Big Ten opener.

With so many players having legitimate hopes to play beyond college, the biggest question for Maryland might be its ability to make the pieces fit. That leaves some tough decisions for coach Turgeon and the players, even if everyone maintains they’re only here to do what’s best for the team.

“You have to play for the name on the front of the jersey,” said Sulaimon. “All of us trust coach Turgeon. We know we have a great group of guys who can all put the ball in the goal, but we know we want to do something bigger than ourselves. If that means sacrificing a little or a lot to do something big and special, I think we can. That’s what I love about this group of guys, everyone is buying in.”

The fit concerns can be real. Layman is better at power forward than on the wing, but he’s forced to play the three because Stone, Carter and Damonte Dodd all need minutes. Nickens’ three-point shooting helps the offense hum, but his playing time has to come at the expense of Layman or one of the bigs. Carter looks like the team’s secret weapon because of his ability to defend the rim, hit the glass, score in the post or and hit a jumper, but it can be tough to keep him involved with so many other options.

There’s also the pesky issue of the media and coaches liking Maryland more than the numbers do. No top-25 team has a bigger split between the polls and KenPom’s rankings. Maryland is only No. 15 according to KenPom, and its efficiency numbers on both sides of the ball (No. 17 on offense, No. 31 on defense) leave something to be desired.

Sulaimon knows what it’s like to be around a championship team after spending most of last season with Duke, before becoming the first player ever dismissed by Mike Kzyzewski. He likes what he’s seeing from the Terrapins so far.

“I think this team is definitely talented,” Sulaimon said after beating Northwestern. “If we reach our potential, we have the capability to be a very good team, a team that can be remembered for a long time. It’s only 14 games into the season. We still have 16 Big Ten games to go. But if we continue to get better and can reach our potential, that’s when we can possibly make something special happen.”

If only for one night, Maryland looked every bit like the contender it’s purported to be. You just don’t win championships in Evanston on a cold January night. Maryland might not have accomplished anything yet, but it’s starting to look the part.