Maryland men’s basketball dominates Nebraska, 73-51

Maryland men’s basketball gets nearly a third of its scoring from one player – Jahmir Young. The fifth-year guard, who has put his team on his back time and time again this season, was held to just 12 points on Saturday, matching his second-lowest scoring total of the season. And the Terps dominated.

In arguably its most complete performance of the season, Maryland (13-8, 5-5 Big Ten) cruised to a second consecutive win, defeating Nebraska (15-6, 5-5 Big Ten), 73-51, in College Park.

The Terps found themselves in a 12-2 hole after the Cornhuskers buried four three-pointers in the first five minutes. Then Kevin Willard’s team found a gear it hasn’t had all season.

“I wasn’t really that worried about [the slow start],” Willard said. “I know they were getting open threes, but it was only a matter of time before we picked up our defensive intensity.”

Maryland turned an early 10-point deficit into a 17-point halftime advantage, thanks in large part to Jahari Long and Jamie Kaiser Jr. — the pair each poured in 11 points and buried three triples in the first half.

The bench production was a welcome sight for the Terps, who got just seven points per game from their second unit through their first nine conference games.

The breakout game from Kaiser, who finished with a career-high 14 points – was especially encouraging — the freshman entered Saturday shooting just 21.9 percent from three on the season, and 0-for-8 in the last four games. If he can give Maryland another consistent threat from the perimeter, that’s a game-changer.

Kaiser and Willard both pointed to a conversation they had during Wednesday’s win at Iowa about his desire to impact the game even when his shots aren’t falling.

“[Willard] said keep [making hustle plays], but keep shooting,” Kaiser said.

Nebraska takes and makes more three-point shots than any Big Ten team. The Terps — who shoot under 30 percent from beyond the arc — matched the Cornhuskers from distance. Maryland made one more three than Nebraska, 11-10.

And Willard’s team was dominant in virtually every other category. The Terps crushed the Cornhuskers on the glass with a 43-25 rebounding advantage that included 17 offensive rebounds. The added opportunities resulted in 18 second chance points.

Julian Reese was the focal point of Maryland’s prowess inside. The junior forward recorded his 10th double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points and 16 rebounds. 

Reese held his matchup – Rienk Mast – to just five points after the forward scored a career-high 34 in Nebraska’s win over Ohio State on Tuesday.

“We watched the film … and they just kept going to him and going to him,” Kaiser said. “We really shut him down and [Reese] did a great job.”

As has been the game plan for most of the Terps’ opponents, the Cornhuskers spent much of the first half sending help on Reese post-ups, daring Maryland to hit perimeter shots. It wasn’t an effective strategy Saturday. 

Reese saw a lot more one-on-one coverage in the second half as a result of his teammates’ hot shooting, and Nebraska had all sorts of trouble containing him inside. After failing to get to the charity stripe in the opening frame, Reese shot 5-for-8 from the free-throw line in the second half.

“Nebraska has an unorthodox post defense where they just stay on top and have a guy help,” Reese said. “But we scouted that and we were able to hit a lot of threes.”

Maryland was beaten badly in the turnover department in recent losses to Northwestern and Michigan State. It won that battle by 10 on Saturday. The Terps were able to set up the full-court press more often as a result of their offensive success, and it led to many miscues by the Cornhuskers, who turned it over 18 times.

The win moves Maryland back to .500 in conference play, and the Terps will be rewarded with a full week of rest ahead of a rematch on the road against Michigan State next Saturday.