Inbounding the ball down by one, Maryland men’s basketball had a shot to take the lead at the end of overtime in Lincoln against Nebraska.
Hakim Hart threw a weak pass into Jahmir Young, which was picked off by an eager Sam Hoiberg who ran down the court for the easy layup with 31 seconds left.
This put the game out of reach, as a back-and forth-game ended with Nebraska getting the win over Maryland, 70-66.
The late game layup bewildered Maryland coach Kevin Willard, who admitted he has to go back and watch the tape on that play.
“I still don’t know what the heck happened, you can’t do that,” Willard said.
It’s a tough loss for the Terps, who came off of their biggest win in recent memory three days ago, upsetting No. 3 Purdue at home. But the Cornhuskers simply were too much in the extra period, going on an 8-0 scoring run after a Hart dunk put them down by three with 2:34 remaining.
Willard is looking forward to a chance to rest his best players after playing three games in eight days.
“For a guy like Jahmir, Donta and those guys, they’re logging a lot of minutes right now,” Willard said. “I think emotionally I gotta get them recharged.”
Maryland had a chance to win the game late in regulation. With less than a minute remaining and a tie game, Young drove the ball to the sideline and forced up a floater to put the team up two. But on the next possession, Nebraska senior forward Derrick Walker drove to the basket and tied the game. Maryland got the last shot, and Young dribbled around the floor and settled on a mid range shot which bricked, ending the fourth quarter.
Walker and junior guard Keisei Tominaga were almost a majority of the offense for their team, scoring 43 out of the 70 Nebraska points.
Walker gave Maryland all types of problems, putting up 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists by attacking players down low efficiently, shooting 7-12. Tominaga had 20 points and his crafty footwork in the paint led to some layups despite his 6-foot-2 stature. He also made some big time shots, including a deep three at the beginning of overtime.
Maryland lacked in some key areas which hurt it down the stretch. Despite forcing 10 turnovers, the Terps only managed to score five points off of the changes in possession, not normal for a team averaging 14 points off turnovers this year. The Terps also shot just 13-19 at the free throw line.
Sophomore forward Julian Reese led the way for Maryland with a monster game, 16 points and 16 rebounds, his fourth double-double this season. Young had 16 points, six rebounds and six assists and senior Hart had 14 points.
To start the first half, both teams came out energetic on the defensive end. However, Maryland started out struggling from the field, shooting 2-14 to start. Nebraska striked first with some good shooting on a 6-0 run from Walker to go up 15-6 in the middle of the first half.
The Terps immediately responded with a 10-0 run, running the pick and roll action with Young and graduate student forward Patrick Emilien. Hart hit a big three at the end of the run to take the lead, 16-15.
But for the rest of the first half Maryland’s offense looked flustered by the Cornhuskers defense, who presented all types of looks. Towards the end of the half they threw a 2-3 zone which slowed down the Terps’ halfcourt passing. With less good shots around the perimeter, for the last seven minutes of the half Maryland only scored from the paint or the free throw line.
This defensive pressure gave Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg a chance to run his offense, and his team began to find consistency. Both Tominaga and Walker finished the half with double-digit points. They took advantage of Reese having two fouls, with Walker going right at him and Tominaga making incisive cuts to the basket.
Maryland couldn’t make shots for a lot of the first half, shooting 29% from the field. Nebraska made two buckets to finish the half, giving the Cornhuskers a 31-24 lead at halftime in front of a packed Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Just like Thursday’s game against No. 3 Purdue, a big offensive surge from Maryland at the start of the second half gave it life. After going down by nine three minutes into the half, Maryland went on a 17-2 run to get in front.
Nebraska trailed for the next nine minutes, but it made the game a lot more competitive. Maryland’s constant fouling down the stretch gave Nebraska the chance to get back into the game at the free throw line. The Cornhuskers shot 12-16 from the free throw line in the second half, and Tominaga eventually tied the game with four-straight makes on free throws.
The rest of regulation and overtime was a back-and forth-battle which Maryland ultimately couldn’t win.
With just four games left in the regular season, the Terps will travel back to College Park for their final games at home this season, first playing Minnesota at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
