Game Day Essentials: Game #14 at Maryland

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#24 Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-2) at Maryland Terrapins (10-3)

 

Date: Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019
Time: 5:30 p.m. 
Arena: Xfinity Center

Broadcast:  BTN

 

Courtesy of @HuskerHoops

Maryland Info

Head Coach: Mark Turgeon
Location: College Park, MD
Conference: B1G 10
Nickname: Terrapins, Terps
Mascots: Testudo
Last time out: Beat Radford

Conference Record: 1-1
Typical Rotation Depth: 8+
Line: Maryland by 2
Offense: "Maryland Motion", turnover prone

 

Player to watch: Bruno Fernando

The 6'10" 240# sophomore averages almost a double-double and put up 21 points at Nebraska last year.  Considering Nebraska's commitment to taking away the 3pt shot and not fouling, it's a matter of mitigating the damage that Fernando will inflict on the scoreboard. 

 

Player to watch: Anthony Cowan

The junior PG is leading the team in scoring but has been held to 7 points both times he's had to face Glynn Watson. Cowan is having an off year from 3 this year but is a threat to shoot from all over the court.

 

 

KenPom Helps explain the Roster

 

PG	SG	SF	PF	C	Pct
1	1 Anthony Cowan 6-0  170  Jr	5 Eric Ayala 6-5  205  Fr	2 Aaron Wiggins 6-6  200  Fr	25 Jalen Smith 6-10  215  Fr	23 Bruno Fernando 6-10  240  So	17.5

 

Maryland has one of the youngest rosters in Div 1 but doesn't have the glut of one and done players like Kentucky/Duke

• 5 star Frosh Jalen Smith is the 3rd leading scorer and 2nd leading rebounder. Smtih doesn't have much of an outside shot
• Wiggins along with Cowan takes the most 3 though is shooting 40% on the year
• Ayala is shooting 44% from 3 but isn't aggressive with his shot
• 6'5" Soph Darryl Morsell is a slasher with a terrible 3pt shot (19% this year)
• Fr 170# Guard Serrel Smith is the rotation and has the green light to shoot 3s but has only made 29% this year; turnover prone
• Sr PF Ivan Bender is an effective inside scorer but simply depth at this point
• 6'8" Fr Ricky Lindo has played minimal minutes but had a nice line filling in for a sick Jalen Smith vs Radford

 

Scouting Maryland: Our deep dive on Maryland

 

The Skinny: Welcome to 2019 where the gimmie games end and the Big 10 gauntlet run begins. Nebraska just by winning the almost all of their home game and grabbing a few on the road should be a NCAA tournament team. Why not a high seed though and Maryland presents a pretty good opportunity to build on the resume.

 

This will be a battle of styles where Maryland's home court advantage will be lessened by lack of a student section and relative inexperience. Maryland is a post heavy team who makes their hay in the paint and will look to attack Nebraska's bigs all night. Look for the Terrapins to crash the boards on all outside shots as what they lack in team shooting them make up for in rebounding ability. Nebraska will need to feast on Maryland's turnovers for easy points and then keep Fernando on the move as a defender as this is the type of game where a faster pace favors the Huskers.

 

With the exception of the 11 point loss in the B1G tourney a few years back, Nebraska has played Maryland within 5 points in 2 wins and 3 losses. The most notable difference is that for the first time the Huskers have what would be considered the better team.  When the cards are the table they also have the better point guard.

 

This is a game where a Nebraska win at Maryland wouldn't be considered stealing a game and a loss would be considered an opportunity lost.

 

Prediction: Nebraska 74 - Maryland 70

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