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The Maryland Terrapins relied on a strong second half surge, and Aaron Wiggins’ 15 points after intermission, to hold off the Nebraska Cornhuskers 64-50 Tuesday at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland. The two clubs are set to square off again tomorrow night in College Park. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. central time/7 eastern on the Big Ten Network.
Although Maryland (12-10 overall, 6-9 Big Ten) took plenty of momentum at intermission when Darryl Morsell drained a half-court shot at the buzzer to give Mark Turgeon’s club a 32-28 halftime advantage, the game remained tight throughout the first 13 minutes of the second half.
Wiggins then scored five straight points on a pair of layups and a free throw to start a 15-3 Maryland run that put the hosts up 59-47 with 3-minutes, 48-seconds remaining. Maryland maintained a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the game. Eric Ayala’s 3-pointer gave Maryland its largest advantage of the contest at 64-49 with 1:48 remaining.
Nebraska’s Lat Mayen answered Wiggins’ 3-pointer to open a first half that saw eight lead changes and five ties. Neither club could get separation until Nebraska (5-13, 1-10) took the largest lead of the opening half on Dalano Banton’s jumper from beyond the arc. Banton’s bomb concluded a 14-5 Nebraska run and put Big Red up 21-16 with 7:30 left before intermission. The Terrapins responded with a 16-7 run of their own to conclude the half with the four-point advantage.
Teddy Allen scored 10 first half points and led Nebraska with team highs of 18 points and five rebounds. Banton added 10 points for the Huskers and had a team high three Assists while Mayen scored six points for Fred Hoiberg’s club. Nebraska was also credited with 13 steals and forced Maryland into a season high 17 turnovers. The Huskers knocked down six of 14 (42.9%) 3-pointers in the opening half but finished 8 of 28 (28.6%) for the game.
Wiggins finished the contest with game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jairus Hamilton chipped in 15 points and five boards while Ayala added 14 points. Maryland out rebounded Nebraska 43-28 and connected on 23 of 53 (43.4%) field goals, including nine of 29 (31.0%) shots from beyond the arc.