Huskers pull off another upset in 67-65 stunner over Maryland
On the heels of an upset over No. 16 Indiana earlier this week, Nebraska was once again faced with a daunting road test when it traveled to take on a Maryland team that had only lost one league home game since joining the Big Ten.
For the second time in a row, the Huskers came up with one of their guttiest performances of the season to shock the conference.
Behind a 14-0 run to end the game while holding the Terrapins scoreless for the final six minutes, Nebraska pulled off a second-straight stunning upset by knocking off Maryland 67-65 on Sunday afternoon.
“We weren’t our best, but we hung in there, hung tough,” head coach Tim Miles said during his post-game radio show on the Husker Sports Network. “These kids really believe in each other. This is a team, and it was really fun to be a part of just like the huddles, to listen to them talk to each other. That truly is what coaching is about.”
Trailing by as many as 13 points with 8:37 left in the game, NU switched to a 1-3-1 zone and completely stifled Maryland’s offense down the stretch. The Huskers then came up with one clutch shot after another to reclaim the lead with 1:24 to go.
The defense took over from there, as Maryland’s star guard Melo Trimble had two looks at 3-pointers in the final five seconds and was off target on both to seal the victory for Nebraska.
The Huskers, who at one point had lost six of seven games in non-conference play, are now off to a 2-0 start in the league for the first time since 2005-06. It also marked the first time since 1979-80 that NU has won its first two conference road games.
“We just said, ‘Hang in there. Be the toughest team on the floor,’” Miles said. “What that means - what is toughness? Do you your job defensively. Play your spots, be tough on the ball, box out and rebound…
“I just really think that these guys hung in there and believed that if we just kept doing our job we could win.”
Both teams came out sluggish to open the game, as Nebraska started off 0-for-5 from the field with two turnovers and Maryland went 1-of-6 with two turnovers of its own.
The Huskers finally took their first lead with 13:34 left and controlled the majority of the first half from their. In fact, NU at one point made nine of 11 shots to take a 26-19 advantage.
Kevin Huerter kept the Terrapins afloat by scoring 13 of his game-high 26 points in the first half, and Maryland would use a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead at 29-26 with the help of a four-minute scoring drought by the Huskers.
However, a tough jumper by sophomore guard Glynn Watson, an And-1 finish by senior guard Tai Webster, and a 3-pointer by Watson helped Nebraska respond with an 8-1 rally of its own and take a 34-30 advanatge into halftime.
“We just know we had to punch first and punch often, that’s kind of our motto,” sophomore forward Michael Jacobson said. “We’ve got to be road warriors, and we knew that to get wins on the road you obviously want to play from ahead and just keep scoring and hang on.”
Nebraska would extend its lead to its biggest margin of the day at 41-33 on a tough runner by junior guard Evan Taylor and a put-back by Jacobson.
But Maryland quickly clawed its way back to tie it at 43-43 by making four straight shots to go on a 10-2 run.
Trimble, who was kept in check for the first 25 minutes of the day, then came up with one of the biggest plays of the game with a four-point play to give the Terps a 49-47 lead with 11:42 to go.
Huerter then continued his red-shot shooting by knocking down his sixth 3-pointer of the game to extend Maryland’s run to 11-0 and push the lead to 54-47.
Huerter wasn’t done there, either, and he converted Maryland’s second four-point play of the day by draining a 3-pointer while being fouled to make it a 17-0 Terrapin run.
“There was a time during that 17-0 run where we weren’t playing with toughness, we weren’t playing the way we should have,” Miles said. “We had guys aware of what was going on and still didn’t get the job done. If you have awareness, then it comes down to effort. If you don’t have awareness, now I’m scared…
“Once we started getting to the foul line, I was really encouraged. I really thought, OK, this is going to go well.”
Nebraska stayed at it and eventually cut the lead down to nine on a big dunk by sophomore forward Edward Morrow, and then four straight free throws by Watson and Jacobson made it 65-60 with four minutes to play.
Webster followed that with consecutive tough finishes at the rim to give the Huskers an 11-0 run and cut Maryland’s lead down to 65-64 with 1:24 remaining.
The Huskers got the stop on a steal by Webster, and Watson missed a jumper but Morrow tied up the rebound for a jump ball to retain possession. Webster then drove and scored a layup with 31.2 seconds remaining to give NU a 66-65 lead.
Once again NU came up big on defense, and Webster went to the line with 17.9 left. He missed the first free throw but made the second to make it a two-point game.
Trimble had a decent look at a 3-pointer but ended up air-balling the shot, and the ball bounced off Morrow out of bounds with 4.7 seconds left to give the Terps one last chance.
Trimble again had a 3-point look to win it, but the shot was off the mark and the final horn sounded.
“We just knew we had to stick together and knew it all started on the defensive end,” Jacobson said. “I mean, if they don’t score, they don’t win. So we knew we had to get some stops down there and just focus on one possession at a time…
“We knew we could do some things and we were going to make our run if we just kept grinding it out.”
Webster led the way with 18 points and five assists, while Watson added 17 points and Jacobson posted 10 points and nine rebounds.
Nebraska will return to action on Thursday for its Big Ten home opener against Iowa, with tip-off set for 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.