Game Day Essentials: Game #28 vs Maryland

Maryland Info

Head Coach: Kevin Willard 
Location: College Park, MD
Conference: B1G 10
Nickname: Terrapins, Terps
Mascots: Testudo

Typical Rotation Depth: 7+

Point Spread: Maryland by 7.5

KenPom rank: 16

A couple of Famous Alumni: Juan Dixon, Len Elmore

Other:  

• This is Nebraska alumni weekend
• This is former Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard's first season at Maryland

KenPom Analysis: A bit like Northwestern, Maryland isn't a great shooting team but makes up for it through shot volume. Maryland is the type of team that hunts offensive boards and tries to fastbreak.

Player to watch: G Jahmir Young

The Charlotte transfer has always been a dynamic scorer and is one of the highest usage players in the conference. Three level scorer is the key to Maryland's success. 

Others to watch

•  Donta Scott is a solid secondary scorer to Young; rim protector
• Reese is strong on the boards and is shooting 63% from the field
• Carey should have been the best 3pt shooter on the team but is struggling this season at 29.6%

Probable starters for Nebraska
5    Sam Griesel    G    6-7

30  Keisei Tominaga    G    6-2

10  Jamarques Lawrence - G  6-3

32  Wilhelm Breidenbach    F    6-10

13  Derrick Walker    F    6-9

Bench

0   C.J. Wilcher    G    6-5

12  Denim Dawson - F  6-6

15   Blaise Keita C   6-11

12   Sam Hoiberg    G    6-0

33  Oleg Kojenets    F    7-0

35  Henry Burt  F  6-6

24  Jeffrey Grace III  G  6-3

Injured

3   Quaran McPherson   G   6-3 - Out for the Year

4   Juwan Gary  F  6-6 - Out for the Year

25  Emmanuel Bandoumel    G    6-4 - Out for the Year

Redshirting 

2   Ramel Lloyd Jr.  G 6-6

31  Cale Jacobsen  G  6-4

Hoiberg Presser

Amy Williams presser first. Hoiberg wishing with as hot as the team is that we'd have less time between these games.

The Skinny: 

In their first meeting Nebraska kept within striking distance behind 16 from Derrick Walker and 15 from Sam Hoiberg before a 15-2 run in the last 10 minutes blew the game open.  Jahmir Young led the way for Maryland with 18 points, 7 assists, and 6 steals.

It seems like Nebraska should be able to outshoot Maryland in this game but will have to deal with the shot volume that the Terrapin's can generate via ball control and offensive rebounds. The 26 FTs Maryland shot in their last meeting was out of the norm for what Nebraska usually gives up; can the Huskers defend in this one without fouling. 

Nebraska has started two new starting lineups in the last two games which is typically the sign of a floundering team. However with this Husker crew it seems more to highlight the versatility of their rosters. Tominaga, Griesel, Walker, and Lawrence currently seem like locks for 25+ a game with everyone else TBD. Is this a Blaise Keita game where we play two bigs? Do we see Denim Dawson return to the rotation?  Hopefully the coaching staff has the right formula.

Maryland is as hot as any team in the conference but they haven't played nearly as well on the road this year as at home.  Can this late season iteration of Nebraska take advantage?

Prediction: Nebraska 71 - Maryland 68