CHICAGO — Nebraska forward Thorir Thorbjamarson’s 3-pointer bounced on the rim three times before finally coming down, tricking Maryland men’s basketball forward Bruno Fernando into a mistimed jump and leaving guard Serrel Smith to throw his hands in the air after Nebraska guard Johnny Trueblood bullied him out of position.

Trueblood — a walk-on only playing due to a decimated Huskers roster — dished the ball back out to begin another crucial 30-second shot clock. And as it neared zero, guard James Palmer nailed a 3-pointer to put Nebraska up nine with under two minutes to play, continuing to wind down the time until the Terps completed their third-annual early exit from the Big Ten tournament.

Entering Thursday, Maryland ranked sixth in the nation in rebounding margin, grabbing 8.8 more boards than its opponents. Nebraska ranked second-worst in the Big Ten.

But the teams were even with 33 rebounds apiece at United Center, and the Cornhuskers scored 11 second-chance points, separating the teams and calling the Terps’ intensity into question after a third consecutive winless Big Ten tournament.

“I guess they just wanted it more,” guard Darryl Morsell said. “At the end of the day, rebounds come down to toughness. If they matched us, they wanted it more than us. So, yeah. That’s it.”

[Read more: Nebraska harassed Bruno Fernando into one of the worst games of his Maryland basketball career]

Nebraska double-teamed Fernando throughout, limiting the sophomore to three points and holding him off the offensive glass. Coach Tim Miles switched between man and zones defenses — using 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone schemes, too — to keep the Terps off balance.

But teams that have double-teamed Fernando have often left forward Jalen Smith free to clean up the offensive glass. On Thursday, just one of his five rebounds came on the offensive end.

“Yeah, not today. I wish I had an answer for you on that,” coach Mark Turgeon said. “Normally [Fernando] gets some offensive rebounds. He had zero today. He’s a tough box-out. So there’s a lot of things that just didn’t go our way. We didn’t play well.”

[Read more: Maryland basketball never gets going in ugly 69-61 Big Ten tournament loss to Nebraska]

In a three-minute span midway through the second half, the Cornhuskers doubled their lead with an 11-2 run. Three of their makes were on second-chance baskets.

After Morsell cut Maryland’s deficit to five — the closest Turgeon’s squad managed for the rest of the second frame — forward Tanner Borchardt reeled in Palmer’s miss and finished a layup 25 precious seconds later.

And after forward Isaiah Roby missed a chance down low, forward Thorir Thorbjarnarson held off guards Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins, knocking the ball back toward the left block. Fernando didn’t put a body on Roby, who leapt up and managed to tip it in despite three Terps jumping alongside him.

It was a similar trend to what unfolded during last year’s Big Ten tournament loss, when Wisconsin brought down 12 offensive boards and cashed in nine second-chance points.

“We’re one of the best rebounding teams in the country. So to give up second-chance points and opportunities after guarding is just kind of like a hit in the stomach,” Morsell said. “But we’ve got to be tougher than that. Even when we make mistakes, as far as rebounding and boxing out, we’ve got to be tougher than that and just lock in and get another stop.”

Instead, little mistakes seemed to build up in Thursday’s loss, allowing an undermanned team to outmuscle Maryland on numerous occasions. And as Nebraska ran down each shot clock for much of the second half, prolonged possessions punctuated by points were backbreaking.

In a somber locker room postgame, the Terps sat in stunned silence. Ayala didn’t feel the loss had anything to do with the team’s postseason inexperience. Wiggins didn’t believe the Terps had looked past the 13-seed Cornhuskers.

But the result was a head-scratching defeat in which a lack of engagement seemed as much of an issue as shots not falling. It leaves plenty to think about before the NCAA tournament

“I just don’t think we played as hard as we possibly can to win this game,” Fernando said. “We just — they wanted it more than we did. That’s the difference.”