The Maryland basketball team held a 12-point lead with about six minutes remaining in the Sunday’s game but failed to score again against Nebraska on its home floor.
The Cornhuskers, meanwhile, scored 14 unanswered points to close out the game and hand the Terps a 67-65 loss, their second Big Ten defeat at Xfinity Center since joining the conference in 2014.
“We started to play a little bit slower and couldn’t put stops together,” coach Mark Turgeon said.
The Terps (13-2, 1-1 Big Ten) had opportunities to regain the lead over Nebraska (8-6, 2-0) in the final moments but failed to convert. The Terps shot 35 percent, which Turgeon said was difficult to overcome.
Turgeon credited Nebraska’s 1-3-1 zone as part of the reason for his team’s offensive struggles. Nebraska coach Tim Miles liked how it stymied the Terps drives on offense and limited guard Kevin Huerter’s shooting chances. Huerter led all scorers with a career-high 26 points on seven 3-pointers, but he failed to score after hitting a free throw with over eight minutes remaining.
“We haven’t seen a 1-3-1 all year,” Turgeon said. “The 1-3-1, we didn’t work on it enough. That’s 100 percent on me there. We got some good looks, got a few layups against it, but just couldn’t finish.”
After Nebraska went up two with 17 seconds remaining, guard Anthony Cowan dished the ball to guard Melo Trimble for a three from the wing. His shot was an air ball.
The Terps maintained possession but struggled to inbound the ball. Cowan eventually tossed it in to Trimble, who put up an errant jumper for the final shot of the game.
“We just didn’t execute it the right way,” Turgeon said. “It was either a lob or an iso for Melo and we just never got into it.”
The Terps struggled to start the game, racking up turnovers and missed shots. But after a 17-0 run put them up 13 with under nine minutes remaining in the second half, they poised for their second conference win of the season.
“We played well enough up until a point to win this game,” Turgeon said.
From that point on, the Cornhuskers outscored Maryland, 20-5.
During the 14-0 run, Maryland tallied nine missed shots, three turnovers and five fouls. It was over that span the Cornhuskers took advantage of their opportunities, making all but two of their free throws.
Coming off of an 84-59 win over Illinois on Tuesday to open Big Ten play, Turgeon pushed for his team to build on the blowout victory. Instead, the Terps collapsed down the stretch and suffered their second loss of the season.
“Its just disappointing we weren’t able to get it done,” Turgeon said. “Game was almost over and they cut it from 13 to five way too quickly. Really that was the difference in the game.”
