The Terrapins of Maryland travel to Lincoln to face No. 12 Nebraska men’s basketball on Wednesday night.
Big Ten Network will televise the game with Kevin Kugler and Jordan Taylor on the call, while the Huskers Radio Network will carry the radio broadcast with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen.
The Terrapins, just 11-16 and 4-12 in Big Ten play, have won three of their last five games, including one on the road, 67-62 at Minnesota on Feb. 8.
“They’re playing their best basketball this season, and they are, they’ve won three out of five and they’ve had some really good wins in that stretch,” Fred Hoiberg said. “They beat Iowa, won on the road at Minnesota, and then knocked off Washington in their last one. And it’s a team that you can tell they’re playing with a lot of confidence. They play with a lot of energy and swagger.”
The Huskers have lost eight of their last nine against the Terps, and Maryland is 5-2 all-time at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Buzz Williams, in his first year as the Terrapins’ head coach after spending the previous six seasons at Texas A&M, runs a lot of the same defenses and actions that he did with the Aggies.
The last time Nebraska played a Williams-coached team was in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, a 98-83 A&M win in Memphis.
“I think there are a lot of similarities,” Hoiberg said.. “They’re playing the same way. They run a lot of the same defenses. They really attack the glass. They can really drive the ball and get into the paint. So there’s definitely similarities.”
Health update
Berke Büyüktuncel missed Saturday’s game against Penn State with an illness, which Hoiberg described as similar to Rienk Mast’s illness that caused him to miss the Huskers’ game at Michigan.
Starting guard Jamarques Lawrence, who has been dealing with a bit of an ankle issue all season, left Saturday’s game late and did not return to the bench after twisting his ankle.
On the Huskers Radio Network Coach’s Show Monday evening, Hoiberg said his ankle was OK but he was dealing with an illness.
Tuesday, Hoiberg gave an update on the team’s overall health leading up to Wednesday’s game against Maryland.
“Jamarques was feeling quite a bit better last night and woke up this morning and wasn’t feeling 100%, so we decided to keep him away (from practice Tuesday),” Hoiberg said. “Kendall (Blue) is now not feeling very good, so he was not at practice this morning. As far as everybody else, they were full participants in practice today. Berke, he was full go.”
Scouting Maryland
Maryland hasn’t had the instant success some fans would have liked under Williams this season. In large part, that is due to injuries.
The Terps’ best player, 6-foot-9 senior Pharell Payne, only played in 10 games this season prior to an injury. That has allowed other players to step into bigger roles.
Freshman Andre Mills, a 6-foot-4 guard, has started 19 of the team’s 27 games. On Monday, he took home Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors after averaging 30.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists against Northwestern and Washington last week.
Senior guard Diggy Coit leads the Terps in percentage of shots taken, 28.6%, good for 151st nationally. Coit has two 40-plus-point games this season. His 43-point performance against Penn State was a career high and Maryland home court (XFINITY Center) record. He is just one of 14 major conference players to have multiple 40-point games in a single season and the first since 2019-20.
Freshman wing Darius Adams is another Terp who is averaging double figures (11.3 points per game). Amongst active players on its roster, Adams leads the team in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (5.2), good for 234th nationally.
Senior Solomon Washington, a 6-foot-7 Texas A&M transfer, missed the first nine games of the season due to injury. He leads the team in rebounding (9.9 per game) while averaging 10.3 points per game in his 19 games played.
“Mills has taken his game to a whole different level, averaging over 24 points in the last four,” Hoiberg said. “Coit has two 40-plus-point games this year. Adams is a double-figure scorer for them. Washington, we know him from when we played A&M a couple years ago, just really, really tough, aggressive, six offensive rebounds in the last game.”
Senior Elijah Saunders is also averaging the second-most minutes per game on the team (29.6) and is shooting 39.6% from 3-point range.
“Saunders is a guy that can really get it going from the outside as well, and they’ve got good role players,” Hoiberg said. “So I’ve been really impressed with the way that they’ve been playing in their recent stretch.”
Keys To the Game
Maryland is 16th in the Big Ten in adjusted offensive efficiency (103.6), per KenPom. The Terps are also 16th in the league in adjusted defensive efficiency (121.2). To the contrary, Nebraska has the nation’s fifth-best defensive efficiency and is No. 1 in the Big Ten in that category.
The Terps are a young or inexperienced team in key positions and have 1.92 years of Division I experience, good for 71st in the nation. That includes Payne, who is unavailable the rest of the season. On the other hand, Nebraska is 27th in Division I experience.
With a much older group and playing in front of the home crowd with just two home games left this season, if the Huskers can get off to a quick start defensively, it will go a long way.
Nebraska has a clear edge with its defense in this game. Yes, Maryland will switch defenses and try to cause havoc, but the Terps are near the bottom nationally in three offensive categories. Its non-steal turnover rate is 9.3, 345th out of 365. Its effective field goal percentage is 48.3%, 308th nationally. Its 2-point field goal percentage is 48.4%, ranked 300th.
The second key for the Huskers is to be themselves on the defensive end. Nebraska’s defense is far superior in the analytical areas in which Maryland’s offense struggles. Its 8.7% non-steal turnover rate is 38th nationally, its effective field goal percentage (46.9%) ranks 23rd in the county and its 2-point field goal defense ranks 87th (49.4%).
Offensive rebounding is always a key for the Huskers this season. It’s what Maryland is best at offensively. They grab 33.8% of their misses, good for 75th in the country. Nebraska gives opponents a 27.8% offensive rebounding percentage, 59th nationally.
The Huskers’ offensive rebounding rate (25.6%) is near the bottom in the nation, 331st. Maryland ranks 170th nationally in giving up opponents’ offensive rebounds, a 30.4% rate.
