Nebrasketball: Maryland Preview

Maryland

Date: Wednesday, February 3rd

Time: 7:30pm

Location of School: College Park, MD

Coach: Mark Turgeon (5th year)

Mascot: Terrapins

2015-16 Record: 19-3 (8-2 conference)

2014-15 Review

Maryland finished the year 28-7 and 14-4 conference which put them right in second place behind champion Wisconsin. They came into the NCAA Tournament as an at large bid and lost in the third round to West Virginia. They ended the season losing a lot of seniors but retained a majority of their talent for the next season.

2015-16 Season So Far

The Terrapins have played well this year. They started the year ranked #2 in the nation and while they have bounced around a bit they have never left the top ten. Their their first loss came to current #2 North Carolina early in the season. Their second was to a surging Michigan team witch looks better and better every week. Loss number three was to Michigan State which helped the Spartans break out of their three game losing streak that Nebraska was happily a part of. Michigan, doesn't seem like a friendly place to the Terrapins.

Mind you, all three losses were on the road.

Defense is key to many of their wins as they are only allowing an average of 64 ppg. If you don't have the shooters or go cold, Maryland will break ahead and you will most likely not get the momentum back. Which brings me to the next thing they do well, scoring. They're a shooting team and they do it well. Anytime you can have an entire squad averaging almost 50% from the floor is a pretty impressive feat.

One of the knocks against this team is that they really haven't had many marque wins. That has recently quieted down since their home win against #3 Iowa. This could bode well for the Huskers if the state of Nebraska can shovel itself out of the blizzard we just had come through. The Vault could be the 6th man in this game.

Players to Watch

Melo Trimble: This 6'3" point guard is one of the top players in the Big Ten. He is currently averaging 14.5 ppg and if he's not scoring points he is helping his teammates do so averaging 5.4 apg. Melo has given just about every team they have played problems and should be the most guarded player on Wednesday.

Robert Carter: Robert is a Georgia Tech transfer is averaging 13.2 ppg and 6.9 rpg. He's a sniper on the court shooting almost 57%. Nebraska will have to make sure that he doesn't keep ahold of the ball too long. If he gets hot, it will be a long game in the Vault.

Diamond Stone: A freshman center who has contributed quickly during his first season. He is averaging 12.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg. He is 6'11 and weighing in at a nice 255 pounds. He has made it tough on teams all season to have much success in the paint.

What Will Probably Happen

Okay, here we go. Maryland is one of the top teams in the nation. Their schedule has been a little light so far and they have yet to win a big game away from home. This could really be beneficial to the Huskers as Pinnacle Bank arena could be rocking. Maryland is also starting to get into the meat of their conference schedule and could be looking ahead. Nebraska could be in a really good situation here.

However, this team has too much size and talent. If you thought the Purdue game got away from us then just wait. Maryland is even bigger and has even more talent. Maryland is coming into this game as one of the top teams in the conference, and I think they might leave that way.