Maryland (12-8, 4-5) vs. Nebraska (15-5, 5-4)When & where: Jan. 27, 2024 | 12:00 PM | Xfinity Center TV: BTN--Wayne Randazzo, Brian Butch Radio: 105.7 FM (Baltimore) | 980 AM (DC) | SiriusXM channel 195 Betting odds: Maryland -3 | O/U: 140 (DraftKings, as of 3 PM on Jan. 26) Maryland will look to maintain its positive momentum and move to 10-2 at home this season when Nebraska heads to College Park on Saturday afternoon. Maryland leads the all-time series, 11-4, as the two teams split last year's matchups with the home team coming out on top each time. Nebraska has proved itself to be among the Big Ten's most dangerous teams in the fifth season under Fred Hoiberg as their 15-5 record marks the program's best start since 1990-91. After suffering an overtime loss against Rutgers back on Jan. 17, Nebraska is coming off consecutive home wins against Northwestern and Ohio State with Keisei Tominaga leading the backcourt along with Rienk Mast shining in the front court. The Dutch forward is averaging nearly 14 points and nine rebounds per game and is coming off a career-high 34 points, including 6-of-8 from deep, while his ten rebounds secured his tenth double-double of the season, becoming only the second Husker in 25 years to post a 30-point, 10-rebound game. The Huskers will need Mast to shine on Saturday as the frontcourt will be without a key contributor again after head coach Fred Hoiberg said Friday that Nebraska forward Juwan Gary, the fourth Husker averaging double-figures scoring, will not be available against Maryland on Saturday for the third consecutive game. Gary's absence is one the Huskers have managed to overcome this past week, but Fred Hoiberg's team has options beyond Tominaga as Mast has emerged among the Big Ten's best transfer additions this season. Nebraska has also done well capitalizing at the free-throw line, one of five Big Ten teams alongside Maryland to draw at least 20 attempts per game while sitting third in the conference shooting nearly 76%. That's been another element to a Nebraska team that's routinely scored in the 80s and makes more threes than any Big Ten team (9.6), giving Maryland's Big Ten-leading defense another tough test back at home. Nebraska is 19-2 over the last three seasons when scoring at least 80 points with both losses coming in overtime. Fortunately for Maryland, there's confidence the Terps can answer the call on the defensive end after a string of lockdown efforts through January. Maryland has held opponents to 70 or fewer points in ten of its last 11 games and is allowing just 64 points per game heading into Saturday, leading the Big Ten and currently the third-fewest in program history--just 0.5 points more than Kevin Willard's first season. “I’m proud of this group," Jahmir Young said postgame. "It starts in practice, starts in practice. We get after it in practice. For our group to be that good defensively shows our potential, shows what we can do. So we just gotta make a run from here.” Maryland leaned on its defense to fuel its second-half comeback, holding Iowa to under 34% shooting from the floor, forcing six turnovers and seven blocks with Julian Reese accounting for five. Donta Scott added 14 points as the veteran trio accounted for 53 of Maryland's 69 points on the road, but none were bigger than Maryland's star guard. Jahmir Young proved to be the hero once again for Maryland after scoring eight of his game-high 22 points in the final 90 seconds of Wednesday's win, now averaging just under 25 points in his last nine games. Young's matchup against Tominaga could provide another high-scoring battle like fans watched in Evanston one week ago as Young and Boo Buie traded buckets, but for a Maryland team looking to find its way back on the bubble, it starts with Saturday with a chance to secure its first Quad Two win of the season. “Fred’s got his team playing really well. They’re spacing the floor out really well. The big kid is playing fantastic. I thought they were going to take a big loss when they lost their center last year, but this kid stepped in and really revitalized their offense. And defensively, they zone out so much...it’s a one side defense where they just try to keep the ball on one side, post play hard. Obviously we’ve got to travel back, get in late tonight, have a light day tomorrow and really Friday is going to be our only preparation day because it’s a noon game. We gotta get a home . We gotta have a good crowd and we gotta protect home court the rest of the way.” Related Links
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