Maryland's blistering-hot offense too much for Nebraska to overcome
Fred Hoiberg wants his Nebraska basketball team to play gritty, in-your-face defense.
It was that way at times Thursday night. But Maryland had answers.
Boy, did it have answers.
The Terrapins were 14-for-22 from the field in the second half (64%) and held off the Huskers for an 83-75 triumph in a Big Ten Conference contest at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Nebraska, now 16-9 overall and 6-8 in the Big Ten, trailed by 11 early in the second half but made a game of it thanks largely to its two veteran leaders. Juwan Gary finished with 22 points, and Brice Williams scored 20 despite playing with flu-like symptoms.
Husker three-point specialist Connor Essegian also battled flu-like symptoms — he was 0-for-6 from the field — while 6-foot-10 forward Berke Buyuktuncel missed the game with a bum ankle.
Entering the night, Big Ten Network hoops analyst Mike DeCourcy projected Maryland as a seven seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, with Nebraska drawing a 10 seed in his current bracket.
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Gary buries three threes during first half
Gary was superb during the opening 20 minutes, scoring 15 points. He shot 3-for-4 from deep, which usually isn’t his forte.
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Even so, Maryland entered the break leading 42-35. The Terrapins were 6-for-11 from three-point range during the opening 20 minutes. They were generally excellent on this night — for instance, they outrebounded the home team 20-11 in the first half and 34-22 on the night.
Derik Queen, a 6-foot-10 freshman center, had 12 points for the visitors at halftime and wound up with 24 on 9-for-11 field-goal shooting. He’s a big reason — but far from the only reason — Maryland (19-6, 9-5) looks like a team that can do damage in the NCAA Tournament.
All of Maryland starters average double-figure scoring on the season, and all five achieved double figures on this night.
Next up for Nebraska is a game against Northwestern at 2 p.m. Sunday in Evanston, Illinois. BTN will carry the contest.
