Maryland @ Nebraska preview
Pinnacle Bank Arena
Last Meeting ( Feb 17, 2021 ) Nebraska 71, Maryland 79
Nebraska and Maryland expected much more out of this season.
While the Cornhuskers welcomed their first-ever five-star recruit, Bryce McGowens, and had hopes of competing for an NCAA Tournament berth, the Terrapins opened the year ranked in the top 25.
Three months into the season, the Terps and Cornhuskers are at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, still trying to find some elusive cohesion. The search continues on Friday night when Maryland (11-14, 3-11) plays at Nebraska (7-18, 1-13).
The Terps enter on a five-game losing streak, which includes two blowout losses to unranked teams and two defeats to ranked teams that were decided on the final possession.
The last close call came Sunday at Purdue where Maryland had a 12-point lead with 11 minutes remaining before falling 62-61.
With top scorer Eric Ayala sidelined by a wrist injury, grad transfer Fatts Russell had his best game in a Terps uniform, collecting 24 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. The speedster led Maryland to an 18-4 edge in fastbreak points. But it wasn't quite enough.
"We didn't get the outcome we wanted," Maryland interim head coach Danny Manning said. "But that effort and moxie gave us the chance to compete with one of the better teams in the country."
After some encouraging results early in the year, the bottom fell out for Nebraska during a 10-game losing streak.
The Cornhuskers finally broke through last week with a 78-65 win over Minnesota as Alonzo Verge Jr. scored 22 points. But they followed that up on Sunday with another lopsided defeat, 98-75 at Iowa. It was a particularly tough way to lose for coach Fred Hoiberg, who was returning to his home state.
"We just didn't play smart," Hoiberg said. "We played out of control. It wasn't an effort thing. We did not play with poise and obviously did not play the right way."
McGowens had his ups and downs, but lately he has shown progression as he became the first freshman in Cornhuskers history to score 20 or more points in four straight games.
On Friday, he'll try to help the Huskers end their three-game skid against the Terps over the last two seasons. Maryland leads the series 9-3.
--Field Level Media