Maryland basketball goes cold late in 74-61 loss to No. 12 Nebraska

Winners of three of its last five, Maryland basketball seemed to be turning a corner towards the end of its season. 

Their rebounding woes and turnover issues steadily improved, while the emergence of redshirt freshman Andre Mills provided a consistent scoring threat that had previously been lacking.

On Wednesday, the Terps (11-17, 4-13 Big Ten) continued to show better fight against the No. 12 Nebraska Cornhuskers (24-4, 13-4 Big Ten) in Maryland’s eighth ranked matchup of the season. With a little over 12 minutes remaining in the game, the Terps led by three. However, their past woes returned in dramatic fashion, as the Cornhuskers outscored them 29-13 over the final stretch to win the contest, 74-61. 

From the tip, Maryland emphasized limiting Nebraska forward Bryce Sandfort, who came into the game leading the Big Ten in three-point attempts (8.9 per game) and makes (3.6 per game). 

Sandfort still impacted the game, finishing with 16 points – and the focus on him allowed fellow Cornhuskers forward Braden Frager to explode. Frager put up a game-high 21 points – he came into the game averaging 11.7. 

In their past six games, the Terps out-rebounded their opponents each time. That ended on Wednesday night, as Nebraska edged them out, 35-34. Sandfort and Frager added eight rebounds apiece, finishing well above their respective rebounding averages, 4.6 and 3.8.

It was another good outing for Mills, who finished with 19 points – one shy of dropping 20 for the fourth time in the past five games. He scored 16 of those in the second half, while his only points in the first half came with a little over a minute remaining in the frame. 

Maryland also turned the ball over 11 times – one of their better figures this season. The Cornhuskers took advantage, scoring 14 points off the Terps’ mistakes. Maryland only managed three points off six Nebraska turnovers. 

Ultimately, the Terps’ shooting struggles late in the game cost them their first ranked victory. From the last time they led to the final buzzer, they hit just four of their 16 shots. 

Maryland’s penultimate road game ends with another disappointing loss. They’ll return home for the weekend, looking to even up the season series with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday.