Upset falls short in 70-65 loss to No. 4 Maryland

Defensively speaking, Nebraska played well enough to pull off one if the biggest upsets in program history against No. 4 Maryland on Wednesday night.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for its offense.

The Huskers shot a season-low 31.8 percent from the field and had a season-high 13 shots blocked, but they also forced 18 turnovers by the Terrapins to stay in the game for nearly the entire night.

However, Nebraska managed just nine points off those 18 turnovers, and when it came down to the final minutes, Maryland did what it had been doing all year long and made the big plays when it mattered the most to hand NU a 70-65 defeat.

"We definitely put ourselves in a position to win the game defensively," junior guard Andrew White said. "When you get turnovers, usually that gives you opportunities to get easy baskets in transition and maybe get some 3s in transition before the opposing defense can get set, so capitalizing is just focus and making the right decisions, which we did not do all the way around tonight. If you had to attribute that loss to one thing, I would say just capitalizing off turnovers would probably be it.

That's why this loss is so hard to take, because we put ourselves in position to win the game, and something easy slipped by us today."

Neither team was especially crisp through the first 20 minutes of the game, as Nebraska shot just 28.6 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from 3-point range while Maryland turned it over 13 times in the first half alone.

An early 14-4 run by Maryland - aided by a four-and-half minute field goal drought by NU - gave it a five-point lead 10 minutes in, but the Huskers climbed their way back a couple minutes later and tied it up at 27-27 on a steal and alley-oop from senior Benny Parker to White with 3:16 left in the half.

A free throw by sophomore Jake Hammond a few possessions later gave Nebraska its first lead in nearly 10 minutes of action, but a basket by star freshman center Diamond Stone put the Terrapins up 29-28 going into halftime.

Stone had eight of his 16 points and six of his 10 rebounds in the first half to lead Maryland, which shot 48 percent from the field as a team, out-rebounded Nebraska 27-15, and blocked six shots in the first half. However, those 13 turnovers, including eight in the final 6:45 of the half, kept the Huskers very much in the game going into the second half.

“Nebraska’s really good defensively," Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said. "They’re really fast. They’re really quick. We were in serious foul trouble. We were playing some lineups we don’t play a lot. They’re quick. They have three players in the top ten in steals in the league. They’re good. The crowd was in it, and we were a little discombobulated and that all kind of just led to it. It was amazing we had a one-point lead at half.”

The odd theme of the first half carried on over into the second, as Tim Miles was hit with a technical foul for arguing a no-call and Maryland took its biggest lead of the half after Rasheed Sulaimon turned an NU turnover into a dunk to take a 67-61 lead.

As they had done all night, though, Nebraska was able to climb its way back and eventually took its first lead of the second half at 52-51 with a 7-0 run sparked by five straight points by senior Shavon Shields with just over nine minutes left to play.

Maryland would eventually reclaim the lead five minutes later on a basket by Stone, but a rare 3-pointer by freshman Michael Jacobson brought the Huskers within 62-61 with 2:33 remaining.

Maybe the biggest swing point of the game came just seconds later, as Jake Layman scored a layup and was fouled. After Layman missed the ensuing free throw, Stone hauled in the offensive rebound and threw down a dunk to put the Terrapins back up 66-61.

Junior Tai Webster kept it a one-possession game with four straight free throws in the final two minutes, but White missed a contested 3-pointer from the corner in the final minute that essentially sealed the victory for Maryland.

"I think there were a lot of missed opportunities for us," Miles said. "We turn them over 18 times but only have nine points to show for it. We have a couple rebounds just drop out of our hands and we give up five points in the blink of an eye... They're hard to stop. They're very good. They're an excellent team. They blocked 13 shots, we weren't able to get to the foul line enough, and we missed some good looks, too. I think at the end of the day, when you're 6-for-18 at the rim, it's hard to win that way."

White led Nebraska with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Shields finished with 11 points and seven boards and freshman Glynn Watson and Jacobson both added 10 points.

However, Stone was the difference maker, nearly posting a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and eight blocks. Though it seemed like an off night for standout guard Melo Trimble, who had four turnovers, he still ended up with a game-high 20 points.

Now two games under .500 in conference play and having lost its past three games, Nebraska turns its focus to the back end of the 2015-16 schedule, with a home tilt against Rutgers up next on Saturday at 1 p.m.

***Nebraska's prior season-low shooting percentage was 37.7 against Villanova. Entering the game, NU led the Big Ten in shooting percentage in conference play (47.8 percent).

***Jacobson finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, one off his season bests in both categories. It marked the first time in Big Ten play he has been in double figures.

***Shields' with seven rebounds moved him past Herschell Turner for 14th on NU’s career list.

***White led NU in points and rebounds for the second straight game.

***Watson finished in double figures for the sixth straight game with 10 points.

***NU committed just six turnovers to matched its season low (also vs. Northwestern and at Michigan State).

***Stone had eight blocked shots, which ties an opponent school record against Nebraska (Walter Downing, DePaul 3/28/83; John Flippen; Baylor 3/9/2000).