Huskers' Late Run at Maryland Falls Short
Huskers.com
The Nebraska men's basketball team put together a late 9-0 run on the road at Maryland to tie the game in the final minute, but the Terrapins held off the Huskers for a 69-66 win on Sunday afternoon at XFINITY Center in College Park, Md.
Andrew Morgan had a season-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting to lead the Huskers (12-6, 2-5 Big Ten).
Brice Williams chipped in 14 points.
Berke Buyuktuncel and
Sam Hoiberg each scored eight points.
Morgan and
Juwan Gary - who scored six points - both reached 1,000 career points during the game.
Ahron Ulis posted a career-high 10 assists.
Maryland (14-5, 4-4 Big Ten) got 22 points from Ja'kobi Gillespie.
Nebraska shot 46.6 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from 3-point range. Maryland shot 44.8 percent overall but hit 10-of-25 (40.0 percent) 3-pointers.
The Huskers committed six early turnovers in falling behind 14-7 at the 12:48 mark.
Hoiberg hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Morgan scored four points to get the Huskers within 18-16. With Maryland leading 22-18, Morgan hit a jumper in the paint, scored on a reverse layup and slammed one home off a feed from Ulis to tie the game at 24-24 with 7:42 left in the first half.
Connor Essegian drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Nebraska its first lead, 27-26. A runner by Gary made it 29-26, and Ulis drove for a layup for a 31-26 NU lead with 3:20 remaining until halftime.
The Terps ended a 4:36 scoring drought to cut it to 31-28 and hit a triple after NU's ninth turnover to tie the game at 31-31. Maryland took a 37-35 lead into halftime after a 3-pointer by Gillespie as time expired, ending the half on an 11-4 run.
Morgan scored NU's first five points of the second half, but the Terps made 4-of-6 field goals to build their lead to 47-42. Williams hit a jumper and rejected a Maryland shot attempt that led to a fastbreak layup by Hoiberg to cut it to 47-46.
Buyuktuncel and Essegian each made a 3-pointer, and Ulis connected on a free throw for a 55-54 Husker advantage with 8:59 to play. But Rodney Rice scored seven straight points and Gillespie hit his fifth 3-pointer to put Maryland up 64-55 after a 10-0 run with 6:47 to play. The Huskers went 1-of-12 from the field in a six-minute stretch as Maryland took its biggest lead of the game.
But the Huskers would not go away. Trailing 66-57, Nebraska got buckets from Gary and Williams on back-to-back possessions to trim the deficit to 66-61 with 2:27 left. Hoiberg hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cut it to two, 66-64, and Williams knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game at 66-66 with 1:02 remaining.
But Gillespie scored in the paint with 40 seconds left to put the Terps up 68-66, and the Huskers turned the ball over on the ensuing possession. Rice made one free throw for a 69-66 lead, and a potential game-tying 3-pointer by Essegian caromed off the rim in the final seconds, and Maryland held on for the 69-66 win, thwarting the Huskers' comeback attempt.
Nebraska is back at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Wednesday, hosting USC at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
