Maryland Terrapins Preview

Date: Wednesday, February 6th

Time: 6:00pm CST

Location: Lincoln, NE

TV: BTN

2018-19 Record: 17-6 (8-4 Big Ten)

Last Meeting: January 2nd - Maryland 74 Nebraska 72

Remember back at the beginning of January? Back then Nebraska was 11-2 with their only losses to a very good Texas Tech team and Minnesota. The Huskers were ranked #24th in the nation and the sky was the limit.

Tim Miles squad was looking good. They were pretty. The non conference schedule ended with one loss and the conference slate was looking favorable to Nebraska.

Then the events on January 2nd happened.

Nebraska made the trip to Maryland to take on the Terrapins. Maryland was big and athletic but also young and not the most polished of teams. The Huskers were supposed to come out, take care of business, and head home on the red eye.

Instead, Nebraska lost a squeaker and has been 2-7 since then. That includes the five game losing streak they are currently in. No more polls, no more hype train. In fact, the hype train has been in Terrapin Station since then.

Maryland has done well since that night. They are 7-3 starting with the win over the Huskers. Their only losses in that period have been to Michigan State, Illinois, and then to Wisconsin. The Illinois game being the only head scratcher of the bunch. All three losses have come in the past four games. Even so, they are still ranked #24 in the Associated Press poll.

This team is still a slow start team and they also seem to struggle at the end too. Something the Huskers could take advantage of, if they didn’t have their own problems getting going. Or in the middle. Well, or at the end too.

The Terps are led by Anthony Cowan Jr. The junior guard is averaging 16.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. He lead the team with 19 points in their win against Nebraska back in January. He is a consistent scorer that will give the Huskers problems as the game goes on.

Big bad Bruno Fernando will take up a lot of the paint in Lincoln. The 6’10” Sophomore forward averages 14.8 points and 10.3 rebounds a game. His size was a difference maker against Nebraska earlier and should be even more of a threat this time around. He followed Anthony Cowan with 18 points and an absurd amount of rebounds with 17. Ten of those rebounds on offense.

Prediction

Maryland and young, athletic, and slowly getting more experience as the season goes along. Even so, they have had trouble the past few weeks. Losses to Wisconsin and will come to any team playing in this conference but an eleven point loss will give anyone watching questions.

If the Huskers were playing to the level they were at the start of this season then I would say that the chances of Maryland coming in and winning would be slim. But we all know that a lot has changed in the past month. Copland out means that Miles has to rely upon his inexperienced bench more than he is use to. There is also the player dynamic that has seemed to become listless with the team.

In the end, I see this as Nebraska’s sixth straight loss in conference play. Maryland is just too much team for the Huskers to handle right now. They have too much talent and size for the Huskers to pull a win out from under.

University of Maryland 76 University of Nebraska 61