The story surrounding Maryland basketball all season long has been the dynamic play of fifth-year guard Jahmir Young. The hometown product has carried the Terps in virtually every contest, most recent being his 22-point performance and eventual game-winner at Iowa on Wednesday. Young has been electric, but the wear and tear of gutting through nearly 35 minutes per game has to catch up to him eventually. Fortunately for him in Saturday’s matchup against Nebraska, it was his supporting cast who did the heavy lifting.
After falling behind 12-2 in the opening minutes, Maryland opened up a scoring barrage, connecting on seven three-pointers to leap ahead over Nebraska for a 44-27 halftime lead. It was a lead that was never relinquished, as Maryland led by as many as 25 and cruised to a 73-51 win to improve to 13-8 on the season and 5-5 in Big Ten play.
“I’ve been saying it all along, this team is going to get better and better as the season goes on,” Maryland head coach Kevin Willard said. “And I still think that we’re going to get better. Offensively we’re going to get better, and if we continue to play defense the way we’re playing, I’ll play against anybody.”
Jamie Kaiser Jr. poured in a career-high 14 points on Saturday, going 4-5 from three-point range. He knocked down three in the first half as Maryland raced ahead. Kaiser and Jahari Long (11 points) combined for 22 first-half points and six threes.
Kaiser Jr. has faced his fair share of struggles in his freshman season, being held scoreless in each of the last four games. Despite his slow shooting, the confidence his head coach has in him has never wavered.
“I approached [Willard] during the week and I was just telling him, like, my offense hasn’t been clicking all year, but I want to do everything I can to help the team win,” Kaiser Jr. said. “And he said keep doing that, but keep shooting. I have complete and total confidence in you.”
While the offense clicked, the Terps leaned into their defense on Saturday, holding a Nebraska squad that entered play averaging 78.6 points per game to only 51 points while forcing 18 turnovers. Nebraska’s 51 points are the fewest allowed by Maryland all season.
As Willard has preached and proven all year, the ability to consistently score does wonders for your defense, specifically Maryland’s full-court press.
“It was only a matter of time until we picked up our defensive intensity,” Willard said. “We’re the number one defensive team in the Big Ten, and it’s not even close right now. … As bad as we’ve been offensively for these guys to come out and play the defense they have, it just tells you something about the character of these kids.”
After Nebraska jumped out to its lead by making three from beyond the arc, Long entered the game and knocked down a three to get Maryland off the snide. From that moment on, the game looked like it had the makings of being a shootout, as the teams combined for 13-20 from three-point range in the first 15 minutes.
Long has now made multiple three-pointers in three straight games.
“I just trusted myself. Every day we work on shooting, every day I come in the gym and shoot. The main thing was just coming in being confident, that’s what the coaches tell me all the time,” Long said.
A three by Jamarques Lawrence trimmed Maryland’s lead to 28-25, but that would be the final field goal of the half for the Cornhuskers. Maryland used a 16-2 run over the final 7:23 to take a 17-point halftime lead.
The Cornhuskers committed nine first-half turnovers, which Maryland scored 14 points off. Despite their hot shooting (7-13 from three), Nebraska allowed 10 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points as Maryland began to build its lead. The Terps outscored Nebraska 18-4 in the paint in the first half of play.
Young, who scored only four first-half points on 2-8 shooting, utilized the attention he gathered and found the open man at will, picking up five assists in the opening half.
Julian Reese notched his 10th double-double of the season on Saturday, scoring 15 points alongside 16 rebounds. While his offense performance was sensational, it was his defensive effort that was key to Nebraska’s scoring struggles.
Nebraska forward Rienk Mast scored a career-high 34 points in his last game, including 6-of-8 from three-point range. Against Reese and Maryland’s frontcourt, it was a different story. In the third consecutive absence of forward Juwan Gary, Mast finished with five points on only five shot attempts as Maryland stifled any source of offense from the forward.
“Just taking away their strengths in three-pointers,” Reese said about the turning point. “They were hitting a lot of threes, getting a lot of open threes even when we got fought back into the game. Just cutting that off, it was pretty easy from there.”
With the win, Maryland improved to 10-2 at home. The Terps will get a break before traveling to Michigan State on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 5:30 PM.
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