Nebraska (12-5, 2-4) at Maryland (13-5, 3-4)
When: Jan. 19, 2025 |12 PM | Xfinity Center
TV: BTN | Jason Horowitz (pxp) & Robbie Hummel (analyst)
Radio: One Maryland App | 105.7 FM (Baltimore) | 980 AM (DC) | SiriusXM channel 381
Betting: Maryland -8.5 | O/U: 145.5 (FanDuel)
Looking to get back to .500 in conference play, Maryland will host Nebraska on Sunday afternoon in the first of two matchups between the teams this season. Maryland leads the all-time series, 12-4, and has won seven of the eight matchups in College Park.
Standing 13-5 (3-4) overall, Nebraska picked up its first conference win back on Dec. 13 in a 17-point win vs. Indiana, following it up with an eight-point win against UCLA on Jan. 4 – but that’d mark the last win. The Huskers enter Sunday on a three-game losing streak with a 38-point loss at Purdue sandwiched between single-digit loss against Iowa and Rutgers. Nebraska’s lone true road win this season came back on Nov. 22 after taking down 14th-ranked Creighton, 74-63, in a convincing early season win.
Seven players average at least 15 minutes per game, but the Huskers are led by senior guard Brice Williams, who turned in his eighth 20-point game of the season against Rutgers while averaging nearly 19 points per game this season. Returning starter Juwan Gary, who enters Sunday six points shy of 1,000 in his career, is the second Husker averaging double figures while North Dakota State transfer Andrew Morgan, who also enters Sunday five points away from his 1,000th career point, is averaging eight points while shooting nearly 58% from the field in roughly 20 minutes per game.
Connor Essegian, a former portal target for Maryland last offseason, is the third Husker averaging double figures this season and is one of five reserves to do so in the Big Ten as he's emerged as one of the conference's best sixth men. Essegian has three 20-point games this season and has led the team in scoring in five games, second-most behind Brice Williams.
But for a Maryland defense that has struggled on the road to start conference play, Sunday gives head coach Kevin Willard’s team another chance to rebuild momentum with the Huskers averaging the third-most turnovers and second-worst assist-to-turnover ratio in the Big Ten.
While Maryland’s biggest question this season is their ability to win away from College Park, Sunday gives the Terps a chance to maintain its dominance at home with an 11-1 record inside Xfinity Center this season. Derik Queen is leading the way with a team-high 15.8 points, one of five averaging double figures for Maryland, though the freshman is shooting just 10% from three this season.
Julian Reese, coming off his fifth 20-point game of the season, enters Sunday 18 points away from tying Bob Kessler for 32nd on the all-time scoring list.
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