At the start of the second half, Nebraska looked to get a quick bucket as Sam Hoiberg had his pass into the lane picked off by Jahmir Young.
He proceeded to play hot potato on the fast break with Donta Scott, before eventually lobbing it up to Scott who came flying in with a two handed flush to send the XFINITY Center crowd on fire.
There was just no coming back from that for Nebraska, as Maryland men’s basketball keeps its perfect conference home record alive winning 82-63.
It was a rare game for Maryland this season in which it was efficient in all three facets of scoring throughout the game, and it came with the team moving the ball. The Terps average 10.8 assists per game, last in the Big Ten, but were a lot more unselfish on Saturday with a season-high tying 16 assists. It contributed to some great numbers on offense, shooting 44.6% from the field, 34.8% from three and 92.3% from the free throw line.
Graduate student guard Don Carey talked about the reason the team passed the ball around so well.
“Nebraska, they play heavy help side defense, they [are] always in rotation always helping each other out on the defensive end,” Carey said. “So we knew that penetrating kicks would be there, just setting our teammates up and making the right reads.”
Maryland’s defense also led to a lot of offensive chances in the fast break for Maryland the whole game. Maryland had eight steals and forced 15 turnovers, which led to the Terps getting out quick in transition, scoring 22 fastbreak points compared to just four from Nebraska.
Five Terps scored in double figures for the Terps, with Young leading the way. He continued to be Maryland’s most effective scoring punch, putting up 18 points and seven assists to go along with a whopping six steals. Carey had 16 points on 4-4 shooting from three, and Scott had 12 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Hakim Hart had 11 points, five assists and four rebounds, while graduate student forward Patrick Emilien had 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
The Terps started the game having a little trouble covering the pick and roll, with senior forward Derrick Walker taking advantage of the Maryland bigs to score eight of the Cornhuskers’ first ten points as they went out to a quick 13-8 lead.
As a team that has started slow quite a few times this season, Maryland began to find its groove, going on a 10-0 run to go up five. The run was punctuated by good defense which led to a layup plus the foul for Young in transition.
With a few of Nebraska’s starters out for the season, coach Fred Hoiberg has had to turn to his son to play meaningful minutes off the bench. On Saturday afternoon Hoiberg became the team’s offense for a bit, scoring eight points in a row for the Cornhuskers midway through the first half. He shot 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from three in the half to keep the Cornhuskers in the game.
After sophomore forward Julian Reese committed his second foul with over seven minutes left in the second half, Willard decided to put Emilien into the game. It ended up being a great choice as Emilien played aggressively in the paint, scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds in the first half to give the team a boost without Reese in the game.
Coach Willard emphasized the ways in which Emilien is so important to the Terps.
“The fact that I feel very comfortable in being able to move him from power forward to center, center to power forward and he’s able to do that,” Willard said. “From a play call standpoint, from a defensive standpoint, to a zone standpoint, that’s a pretty valuable guy.”
The Terps’ team defense was also a big factor, giving them offensive opportunities they needed to get a double-digit lead early.
Employing a zone started to make the Cornhuskers pass a lot for easier shots and slowed Walker down. Maryland forced Nebraska into eight first half turnovers and scored 11 points off of turnovers to help it go into halftime with a 40-30 lead.
Maryland took control in the second half and ran away with the game, outscoring the Cornhuskers 42-33 to secure the team’s second straight win. It is now 14-7 on the season and 5-5 in conference play.
Maryland looks to go undefeated in its three-game homestand when it takes on Indiana on Tuesday at 9 p.m.
