Huskers.com
Brice Williams and Juwan Gary combined for 42 points, but No. 25 Maryland used a strong shooting night to down Nebraska, 83-75, Thursday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Gary led Nebraska (16-9, 6-8 Big Ten) with 22 points, while Brice Williams, who battled the flu and was a game-time decision to play, totaled 20 points and three assists as the Huskers saw their four-game win streak snapped.
Derik Queen led five Terrapins in double figures with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Julian Reese had 13 points and 12 rebounds as Maryland (19-6, 9-5 Big Ten) shot 59 percent, including 7-of-15 from 3-point range.
Despite being short-handed tonight, the Huskers battled all night cutting an 11-point deficit to two on three occasions, the last coming after a Gary jumper with just over a minute remaining. Maryland answered as Selton Miguel basket with just over 40 seconds remaining pushed the lead back to four and Maryland went 4-of-4 from the line in the last 20 seconds to close out the road win.
Maryland shot 54 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes to build a 42-35 halftime lead as Queen had 12 first-half points.
The Huskers trailed 16-8 after an 8-0 Terrapin run before using an 11-2 run to regain the lead behind Gary, who scored seven of his 15 first-half points in the spurt, including a three-pointer as part of a five-point Huske sequence.
Nebraska led 25-22 after a Williams’ 3-pointer with 8:09 left in the half, but Maryland, which went 6-of-11 from long distance in the opening 20 minutes used a 10-3 surge to build a 32-28 lead on a Miguel 3-pointer with 6:23 left in the half and stretched the lead to seven at the break.
The teams traded baskets in the opening five minutes before Maryland, which hit six of their first seven shots out of the halftime break scored six straight points to build a 54-43 lead and force a Husker timeout with 15:25 left.
Nebraska rallied behind back, as a Gary jumper and two straight baskets from Andrew Morgan, who finished with 15 points, pulled the Huskers within 54-49 with 12:58 left.
Nebraska eventually pulled to within 62-59 on a Williams 3-pointer with 8:44 left, but the Terps scored five straight to push the margin back to eight. NU would continue to battle, getting a 9-2 run to pull within 73-71 with 2:26 left after a pair of Morgan free throws, but Maryland would come back as Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s basket made it a four-point game.
Nebraska would continue to cut the margin, but Maryland kept answering to hold the Huskers at bay.
The Huskers will hit the road this Sunday to take on Northwestern. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and game will be televised on the Big Ten Network and can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network.