Huskers Travel to Maryland to face Terps

Huskers Travel to Maryland to face Terps
The Nebraska men's basketball team hits the road on Saturday to face off against the Maryland Terrapins. Tipoff from the XFINITY Center in College Park is set for 11 a.m. (central), and the game will be televised on BTN and carried on the Huskers Radio Network.

Nebraska (15-5, 5-4 Big Ten) comes off an 83-69 win over Ohio State on Tuesday. Junior transfer Rienk Mast led all scorers with 34 points, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range, along with 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. He became the first Husker since Aleks Maric in 2008 to record a 30-point, 10-rebound game, while Mast's 34 points were the most by any Husker since Teddy Allen had 41 points against Penn State in 2021. 

Mast has been one of the Big Ten's best transfers, averaging 13.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, as he paces the Huskers in both rebounding and assists. He is one of only four power conference players - and one of just 11 players nationally - averaging at least 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists per contest.  
With a win on Saturday, the Huskers can match their win total of 2022-23 and extend their win streak to three games. 

Maryland (12-8, 4-5) comes off a 69-67 win at Iowa on Wednesday evening. Jahmir Young's basket with 1.7 seconds left provided the winning margin, as he scored Maryland's final eight points over the last 1:24 to cap a 22-point performance. The Terps held Iowa to 42 percent shooting and lead the Big Ten in scoring defense at 64.0 points per game. 

Worth Noting 
• Nebraska enters Saturday's game with a 15-5 record, which matches the Huskers' best start since NU opened with a 18-2 mark in 1990-91 (also 2010-11, 1995-96 and 1991-92). A win on Saturday would give NU a 16-5 mark for the first time after 21 games since the 1990-91 season. That team was 18-3 enroute to a school-record 26 wins.

• Nebraska has snapped several long streaks this season. Saturday's win over Northwestern snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Wildcats dating back to 2019. NU had previously already ended losing streaks to Michigan State (11 games), Kansas State (seven games) and Indiana (seven games) during the 2023-24 campaign.

• Nebraska enters the Maryland game averaging 78.6 points per game. It is NU's highest points per game average since averaging 80.2 points per game in the 1995-96 season and on pace to finish in the top 10 in single-season scoring average.  It is also more than 12 points per game higher than NU's average at the 20-game mark last season (66.2 ppg).   NU has climbed from 149th to 24th nationally in offensive efficiency in KenPom as of Jan. 26.
 
• Nebraska has averaged 80.3 points per game in seven games this month following the 83-point effort against Ohio State on Tuesday. The 83 points against Ohio State tied a season high for points allowed by the Buckeyes and snapped OSU's streak of eight straight games allowing 75 points or less.

•  C.J. Wilcher has been on a roll in recent weeks, averaging 12.2 points per game on 56 percent shooting over the last nine contests to raise his season average to 8.9 ppg following his 16-point effort against Ohio State.  He is 23-of-42 from 3-point range (.548) in that stretch with seven double-figure efforts. Wilcher's nine double-figure games off the bench is second among Big Ten players (John Blackwell, Wis., 10).  

•  The Huskers are 20-8 over the last 28 games dating back to Feb. 1, 2023, which ranks second in winning percentage as of Jan. 20. Nebraska closed the 2022-23 season by winning six of their last nine games.

•  Keisei Tominaga enters the Maryland game needing just two 3-pointers to break into NU's top-10 career chart. Tominaga, who leads NU with 41 3-pointers, has 143 for his career. Tominaga is two 3-pointers behind Tyronn Lue (145, 1996-98) for 10th place and four behind Cookie Belcher (146, 1997-01). Both Lue (Head Coach) and Belcher (Player Development/Video Coach) are on the Los Angeles Clippers coaching staff. 

• The Huskers are now 24-5 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 19-2 over the last three seasons. Both losses have come in overtime (104-100 in 4OT at NC State on Dec. 1, 2021; 87-82 in OT at Rutgers on Jan. 17, 2024). NU had won its last 17 games when reaching the 80-point plateau before the OT loss at Rutgers.

• One strength of the Huskers has been getting to the free throw line. NU has shot more free throws in 15 of 20 games in 2023-24 and its +91 differential is fourth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 25. Nebraska has made nearly as many free throws (308) as opponents have had attempts (316). NU allows just 15.8 free throw attempts per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 25. Maryland leads the Big Ten in free throws attempts per game at 24.2 per contest.

• Nebraska enters Saturday's game ranked second in the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 75.7 percent.  It is on pace to be one of NU's highest season percentages. NU has not shot over 74 percent from the foul line since the 2011-12 season when NU shot a school-record 76.6 percent. 

• Nebraska's bench has provided a spark, averaging 23.8 points per game. The Huskers' leading scorer has come from the bench six times (Hoiberg-Lindenwood; Wilcher-Rider, North Dakota and South Carolina State; Gary-Stony Brook; Allick-Iowa) and NU has had 19 double-figure efforts from its bench in 2023-24.

• Nebraska won its first seven games by 10 or more points. It was just the second time in over 100 years - the other was from Dec. 3-30, 1990 - that the Huskers won seven straight games by double figures.

• The Huskers finished non-conference action with a 10-1 mark, matching their best non-conference record since joining the Big Ten (also 2018-19).  

• Rienk Mast's performance against OSU was the first 30-point, 10-rebound game was the first by a Husker since 2008. Mast, Maric and Eric Piatkowski are the only Huskers with 30-point, 10-rebound games in the last 30 years.

• According to CBB Reference, only seven players have had a game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and at least five 3-pointers this year.  Since 2019, only one other Big Ten player had a 30-point, 10-rebound game with at least five 3-pointers and that was Rutgers' Ron Harper Jr.  against Purdue on Dec. 9, 2021.

Numbers to Know
2 - Rienk Mast became only the second Husker in the last 25 years to post a 30-point, 10-rebound game with his performance against Ohio State. He joined Aleks Maric, who accomplished the feat four times in his career from 2005 to 2008.

9.6 - NU leads the Big Ten with 9.6 3-pointers per game as of Jan. 25, an average which is on pace to challenge the single-season school record for 3-pointers per game (9.5/gm, 2001-02). The Huskers are 9-2 this season when hitting at least 10 3-pointers.

15 -Nebraska has won its 15 games dating back to last season when holding an opponent to 70 points or less. This season, NU is 11-0 following Tuesday's win over Ohio State

4 - Nebraska's 2023-24 roster features four career 1,000-point scorers (Josiah Allick, Jarron Coleman, Rienk Mast and Brice Williams). Williams became the most recent member of the 1,000-point club at Wisconsin on Jan. 6.

18 - Nebraska has held 18 of 20 opponents under 50 percent shooting. Dating back to last season, NU has held 23 of its last 27 opponents to under 50 percent shooting from the field. 

1.46 -Nebraska's assist-to-turnover ratio this season, which is sixth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 25.  Over the last decade, NU's best assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.32, set in the 2018-19 season. Nebraska's 16.2 assists per game is the program's highest average since 1995-96 (17.4 apg).

About Maryland
Kevin Willard is in his second season in charge of the Maryland program after spending the last 12 seasons at Seton Hall. Maryland won 22 games and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2023. At Seton Hall, the Pirates posted seven 20-win seasons, made five NCAA Tournaments and shared the Big East regular-season title in 2019-20. 

This season, Maryland opened with a 1-3 start before winning eight of its next nine games to close out 2023. The Terps have been in nearly every game, as their last three games have been decided by a total of seven points. Five of Maryland's eight losses are by three points or less. 

Maryland has relied on its veteran trio of Jahmir Young, Julian Reese and Donta Scott. Young is second in the Big Ten in scoring at 20.8 ppg while dishing out 4.1 assists per game. Reese is at 13.6 ppg and ranks second in the Big Ten at 9.8 rpg and has nine double-doubles. Scott is at 11.2 ppg and is hitting almost 40 percent from 3-point range. 

Series History: Saturday's meeting is the 16th between the two teams, all since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten in 2014-15. Maryland leads the series, 11-4, with eight of the 15 meetings decided by five points or less. The two teams split the season series last year with Maryland winning in College Park before the Huskers won 70-66 in overtime in Lincoln on Feb. 19, 2023. Saturday's matchup is the only regular-season meeting this season. Nebraska's only win in College Park was on Jan. 1, 2017, a 67-65 triumph. 

Last Meeting: Derrick Walker scored a career-high 23 points while adding seven rebounds and six assists, powering Nebraska to a 70-66 overtime win over Maryland on Feb. 19, 2023. Nebraska overcame an eight-point deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation and used an 8-0 run in overtime after Maryland led 64-61 with under 2:30 left in overtime.

 After a pair of Walker free throws made it 64-63, Sam Griesel's basket with 1:23 remaining in the extra period gave NU a 65-64 lead. Maryland had the ball with 39 seconds left in OT at midcourt, but Sam Hoiberg's steal and layup off the inbounds pass gave NU a 67-64 lead with 34 seconds remaining. On Maryland's next possession, Walker blocked Hakim Hart's shot before Hoiberg was fouled and sank both free throws to make it 69-64. Walker's 23 points was a career best, as he went 9-of-11 from the foul line, setting personal bests in both categories and added three blocked shots.  Keisei Tominaga pitched in 20 points in his fifth-straight game scoring 20 or more, while Sam Griesel added 12 points.

Last Time Out
Behind a career-high performance from Rienk Mast, Nebraska posted an 83-69 win over Ohio State on Tuesday evening. Mast was dominant, hitting 13-of-17 shots from the field, including 6-of-8 behind the en route to a career-high 34 point, 10-rebound, four-assist effort.

Mast, who posted his fifth double-double of the season, had 21 points in the second half on 9-of-10 shooting as his 34-point night topped his previous career high of 30 set in the 2023 MVC Tournament. 

Nebraska shot nearly 50 percent from the field and hit 14 3-pointers, including four by C.J. Wilcher, who came off the bench and added 16 points and three assists. Brice Williams gave NU a trio of double-figure nights with 14 points and seven rebounds. Nebraska dished out 19 assists and had just six turnovers in the win. 

Nebraska, which trailed by as many as nine in the first half, had built a 10-point lead on the first possession of the first half before the Buckeyes used an 8-1 run to pull within 46-43 after Zed Key’s basket with 17:25 remaining. Wilcher then provided a big moment, hitting a pair of corner 3-pointers in a span of 1:12 to extend Nebraska’s cushion to 52-43.

The Buckeyes pulled to within five at 52-47 before Mast took over. The 6-foot-10 junior scored five straight points as part of a 7-0 run to push the lead to 12. He then scored NU’s next 10 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers as the Huskers built an 18-point advantage with 6:51 remaining, and NU would lead by double figures the rest of the night.