Nebraska men’s basketball fell to 0-5 on the road in Big Ten play after Maryland dominated the Huskers 73-51 in College Park on Saturday.
Nebraska started the game leading 12-2 and hitting five of its first seven 3-pointers. At the under-12 timeout, Nebraska held a 15-11 advantage. The Terps took over from there, holding Nebraska without a field goal for the final 7:23 of the half and outscoring the Huskers 42-15 to take a 17-point lead at the break.
“The run they went on at the end of the first half, that set the tone,” Coach Fred Hoiberg said.
Road Woes Continue
Nebraska’s road issues are now becoming a trend. In the Huskers’ five conference home wins they have a plus-59 scoring margin, good for second in the league.
On the road, it is a much different story. In the five losses, they have a minus-72 scoring margin, good for fourteenth or last in the league.
The loss to Maryland makes it two straight road losses where Nebraskas has been dominated on the offensive glass.
“The thing that bothers me more than anything about our performance today was the turnovers and the offensive rebounds,” Hoiberg said. “You can’t give up 25 points off of turnovers and 18 second-chance and have any chance of keeping it close … that’s the difference.”
In the 87-82 overtime loss at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights had 25 offensive rebounds to Nebraska’s 11. Saturday, Maryland dominated the glass 43-25. The Terps had 17 offensive rebounds to just three from Nebraska.
“That is becoming a very discouraging issue and theme for our team on the road, on the glass,” Hoiberg said. “This one, Rutgers, Minnesota, we absolutely got punked.”
The 73 points Maryland scored is the lowest total Nebraska has allowed on the road in conference play. However, the 51 the Huskers scored was the lowest offensive output they have had all season.
Nebraska entered the game averaging 78.6 points per game. It was the Huskers’ highest points-per-game average since averaging 80.2 points per game in the 1995-96 season. Saturday was the first time Nebraska scored less than 60 points this season.
Wilcher Stays Hot
The one bright spot for Nebraska was C.J. Wilcher. The junior guard provided a spark off the bench with 14 points while shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
Wilcher came into Saturday averaging 12.2 points per game on 56% shooting in the last nine games. He is now 27-of-48 from 3-point range (56.2%) in his last 10 games with eight double-figure scoring games.
Maryland came into the game averaging just seven bench points. Saturday, the Terps got 25 points off the bench to the Huskers’ 19.
Next Up
The Huskers now have an even more important game Thursday when they host Wisconsin for a 7:30 p.m. tip. The Badgers sit a top the league standing at 8-1 after defeating Michigan State 81-66 on Friday night and have won three in a row (Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan State).
