Huskers' Late Run at Maryland Falls ShortHuskers' Late Run at Maryland Falls Short
Men's Basketball

Huskers' Late Run at Maryland Falls Short

The Nebraska men's basketball team put together a late 9-0 run on the road at Maryland to tie the game in the final minute, but the Terrapins held off the Huskers for a 69-66 win on Sunday afternoon at XFINITY Center in College Park, Md. 

Andrew Morgan had a season-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting to lead the Huskers (12-6, 2-5 Big Ten). Brice Williams chipped in 14 points. Berke Buyuktuncel and Sam Hoiberg each scored eight points.  

Morgan and Juwan Gary - who scored six points - both reached 1,000 career points during the game. Ahron Ulis posted a career-high 10 assists. 

Maryland (14-5, 4-4 Big Ten) got 22 points from Ja'kobi Gillespie. 

Nebraska shot 46.6 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from 3-point range. Maryland shot 44.8 percent overall but hit 10-of-25 (40.0 percent) 3-pointers. 

The Huskers committed six early turnovers in falling behind 14-7 at the 12:48 mark. 

Hoiberg hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Morgan scored four points to get the Huskers within 18-16. With Maryland leading 22-18, Morgan hit a jumper in the paint, scored on a reverse layup and slammed one home off a feed from Ulis to tie the game at 24-24 with 7:42 left in the first half. 

Connor Essegian drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Nebraska its first lead, 27-26. A runner by Gary made it 29-26, and Ulis drove for a layup for a 31-26 NU lead with 3:20 remaining until halftime. 

The Terps ended a 4:36 scoring drought to cut it to 31-28 and hit a triple after NU's ninth turnover to tie the game at 31-31. Maryland took a 37-35 lead into halftime after a 3-pointer by Gillespie as time expired, ending the half on an 11-4 run. 

Morgan scored NU's first five points of the second half, but the Terps made 4-of-6 field goals to build their lead to 47-42. Williams hit a jumper and rejected a Maryland shot attempt that led to a fastbreak layup by Hoiberg to cut it to 47-46. 

Buyuktuncel and Essegian each made a 3-pointer, and Ulis connected on a free throw for a 55-54 Husker advantage with 8:59 to play. But Rodney Rice scored seven straight points and Gillespie hit his fifth 3-pointer to put Maryland up 64-55 after a 10-0 run with 6:47 to play. The Huskers went 1-of-12 from the field in a six-minute stretch as Maryland took its biggest lead of the game. 

But the Huskers would not go away. Trailing 66-57, Nebraska got buckets from Gary and Williams on back-to-back possessions to trim the deficit to 66-61 with 2:27 left. Hoiberg hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cut it to two, 66-64, and Williams knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game at 66-66 with 1:02 remaining.  

But Gillespie scored in the paint with 40 seconds left to put the Terps up 68-66, and the Huskers turned the ball over on the ensuing possession. Rice made one free throw for a 69-66 lead, and a potential game-tying 3-pointer by Essegian caromed off the rim in the final seconds, and Maryland held on for the 69-66 win, thwarting the Huskers' comeback attempt. 

Nebraska is back at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Wednesday, hosting USC at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

Nebraska Postgame Notes at Maryland
*-Andrew Morgan went over 1,000 career points with his basket at the 10:44 mark of the first half. He has 1,012 points in his career.
*-Morgan finished with a season-high 17 points on 7-12 shooting, topping his previous best of 14 at Michigan State. 
*-Morgan finished with 17 points, his 10th double-figure game off the bench this year. NU now has 19 double-figure efforts from its bench in 2024-25.
*-Ahron Ulis set a career high with 10 assists. He had eight against Western Michigan on Nov. 22, 2021 while at Iowa. His previous best at NU was three on three occasions, the last on Dec. 7 at Michigan State. He is the first Husker with double-figure assists since Alonzo Verge Jr. at Ohio State on March 1, 2022.
*-Juwan Gary went over 1,000 career points with his tip-in with 3:08 left in the second half. Gary now has 1,000 career points.
*-Nebraska held Maryland to 69 points, matching Maryland’s lowest output of the season (at Washington on Jan. 2).
*- Nebraska had won its 36 games when holding an opponent to 70 points or less dating back to the 2022-23 season.
*-Nebraska out-rebounded Maryland, 36-32, as the Terrapins were fourth in the Big Ten in rebounding margin entering the game at +5.5 rpg.