Huskers rally for 70-66 overtime victory over Maryland
In front of one of its best home crowds of the year, Nebraska continued its late postseason push in dramatic fashion with a 70-66 overtime win over Maryland on Sunday afternoon.
After trailing by eight with just over seven minutes left in regulation, the Huskers rallied to send the game to OT and finished the extra period on a 9-2 run.
Derrick Walker had a career-high 23 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, while Keisei Tominaga recorded his fifth straight 20-point effort. Nebraska shot just 41% from the field and 3-of-16 from behind the arc, but it also went a season-best 19-of-26 (76%) on free throws.
Maryland got 16 points each out of Jahmir Young and Julian Reese, but it only shot 33.3% and had 12 turnovers that led to 16 NU points.
With the victory, the Huskers have now won four of their last five games and improved to 14-14 overall and 7-10 in Big Ten play. That marks the first time Nebraska has been at .500 in February since 2019.
Nebraska set the tone with a strong first half
The game started out as a rock fight on both ends of the floor. Nebraska didn’t score its first points until the 17:05 mark but led 9-6 after the first nine minutes.
The offenses finally started to heat up from there, though. Walker scored six unanswered points, which were followed by a 10-0 Maryland run. The Huskers countered that with another 6-0 spurt and led 21-16 with 5:35 left in the half.
Jumpers by Sam Hoiberg and Tominaga sent Nebraska into halftime up 31-24, as the Terps made just one field goal over the final 4:12 of the half.
The Huskers scored 22 of their 31 points in the paint but were only 1-of-7 on 3-pointers. Maryland shot just 29% from the field and managed three points off of eight offensive rebounds.
Late NU rally sends it to overtime
A jumper by Sam Griesel matched Nebraska’s largest lead at 36-27 after the first three minutes of the second half.
However, the Huskers followed that up with a nearly five-minute scoring drought and didn’t make a field goal for a full eight minutes. That allowed Maryland to go on a 24-6 run and take a 50-42 lead on an And-1 by Reese with 7:10 remaining.
Just when it looked like the game was slipping away, Hoiberg knocked down a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding. That sparked a 10-3 rally, and the Huskers got back within 53-52 on a layup by Griesel with 2:04 to play.
Four straight free throws by Tominaga tied the game up at 56-56, but Young hit a tough floater along the baseline to give Maryland the lead. Walker, who went 9-of-11 at the charity stripe, knocked down two clutch free throws to tie it at 58-58 with 29 seconds left.
Young missed a jumper at the buzzer to send Nebraska to its fourth overtime game of the season.
Huskers slammed the door in OT
Tominaga drilled a 3-pointer to open overtime, but Maryland quickly answered with six straight points to go up 64-61.
It would be all Huskers from there, though, as the Terps scored just two more points over the final 2:34 of OT. Hoiberg helped put the win away with a steal and layup, followed by two clutch free throws that put NU up five with 14 seconds on the clock.
Freshman Jamarques Lawrence sealed the deal with one last free throw with 10 seconds to give the game its final score.
The Terrapins missed all three of their shots and turned it over three times over the last 2:34, while Nebraska went 5-of-7 at the line to close it out.
The Huskers will get six days off before returning to action for a Saturday home game against Minnesota. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on Big Ten Network.
