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3 keys and a prediction for Nebraska Basketball vs Maryland

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Nebraska basketball can even its record on Sunday against Maryland and here are three keys, plus a prediction.

It’s been a while since Nebraska basketball played truly meaningful games late in February, but that’s what we have Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena — an important basketball game.

The Huskers have made it important with two straight wins. They upset Wisconsin at home last weekend, then followed it up with a win as a 14-point underdog against Rutgers on Wednesday.

Suddenly, a lost season has hope. Nebraska basketball is 13-14 overall and 6-10 in the Big Ten. But with three straight games at home, an NIT berth suddenly seems possible.

First things first, Nebraska needs to knock off Maryland, a team that just defeated third-ranked Purdue. The Terps don’t get talked about enough but they are going dancing in March.

Maryland is 18-8 overall and 9-6 in the Big Ten. Maryland is also a five-point favorite Sunday (5 PM EST, Fox Sports 1), and here are three keys for Nebraska basketball, as well as a prediction.

Derrick Walker needs a big game

Maryland is a strong defensive team and in Big Ten games, nobody is allowing fewer points per game than the Terps who surrender just 63.3. Maryland does this by pressuring the ball, mixing up defenses, and has one of the slower tempos on offense in college basketball.

Kenpom ranks Maryland 289th in terms of adjusted tempo. Nebraska is 227th, so I would expect this game to be more of a grind. One thing Maryland doesn’t do as well is defend the 2-point shot. The Terps are 10th in 2-point percentage defense and outside of 6-foot-9 Julian Reese, they don’t have anyone who can guard Walker.

Walker was 8-for-12 from the field in the first meeting and Nebraska needs a similar effort. He’ll have to make an impact as a passer too because Maryland will throw some different looks at him but the more touches Walker gets inside, the better it will be for Nebraska.

Limit fouls and turnovers

Offensively, Maryland doesn’t do anything spectacular despite being ranked as the No. 32 adjusted offense according to Kenpom.

One reason for that is the ability to get to the free-throw line. Maryland ranks in the top 100 nationally and in Big Ten play, Maryland is fourth with 16.9 free throw attempts per game and third with 13.1 free throw makes per game.

Those hidden points really add up. In the first meeting against Nebraska basketball, the Terps went 24-of-26 from the charity stripe, outscoring the Huskers by 15 points right there. Jahmir Young, Hakim Hart, and Reese combine for about 12 attempts per game and that number — high or low — will be a key factor.

Remember when the Huskers beat Penn State — they had less than 10 turnovers and fouls. That’s the recipe for winning on Sunday night.

Keep Keisei going

Confidence is a tangible thing and Nebraska has it right now, especially Keisei Tominaga. He’s scored at least 11 points in nine of his last 10 games and he’s had four straight with at least 22. In this 10-game stretch, he’s making 3.2 triples per game.

Nebraska needs that to continue.

However, the one game during this stretch where he didn’t reach double figures came against Maryland. He didn’t attempt a triple and only scored three points.

Nebraska has to get more production from him this time around and without Tominaga hitting some 3-pointers and scoring in double figures, it’s really hard to see Nebraska winning this game.

Nebraska basketball vs Maryland prediction

That being said, I think Tominaga has another stellar outing. The 20-point streak might come to an end, but the Terps are going to have a tough time focusing on Walker, as well as Nebraska’s shooters. CJ Wilcher needs another good night but he should be brimming with confidence after going off at the RAC.

Maryland just beat Purdue. But the Vault is going to be rocking and I expect another inspired effort from the Huskers who notch quite possibly their best win of the season in exciting fashion, 68-65.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find out podcast on Apple or Spotify.

 

 

 

 

 

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Nebraska Basketball: Guard Denim Dawson enters transfer portal

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Nebraska basketball redshirt freshman Denim Dawson entered the transfer portal on Wednesday, as more moves continue to be made within the basketball team. This was first reported by 247Sports’ Travis Branham.

Dawson had his moments for Nebraska basketball this season. He made his first start against Purdue back in December. He had three rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes of play. He then was able to continue his strong play in the second half of the season when he had seven points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes. Dawson was active on the glass against Penn State when he recorded nine rebounds.

It could be said that Dawson never had a fair chance to crack the rotation due to the players in front of him. Nevertheless, Dawson had raw athletic ability, and it was easy to see why he was recruited to the program.

Dawson was a three-star recruit and was the 32nd overall player in the state of California for the 2022 class.

What does this move mean for Nebraska basketball?

This move makes sense for Dawson, as Nebraska basketball has several guards on the roster already. Jamarques Lawrence is one of them, and he was able to take on a big role for the program. This is a case of there being too many mouths to feed on the roster. The emergence of Lawrence also probably played a bit of a role as the latter looks to be a staple for the program.

It will be interesting to see where Dawson ends up. He is certainly a talented player, but Nebraska basketball was not the right fit for him at this time.

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Podcast: What’s next for Nebraska Basketball after missing NIT?

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Nebraska basketball
Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Our latest podcast discusses whether Nebraska Basketball should have missed the NIT, look at what’s next, and more.

It’s the start of another week, Husker fans, and in terms of the Nebraska basketball team, we got some disappointing news on Sunday night.

Nebraska was on the NIT bubble even before its loss to Minnesota last week in the Big Ten tournament. While some NIT projections had the Huskers barely making it in the field, Nebraska basketball was left on the outside looking in.

Chris Peterson and Danny Jaillet are each on the show in their usual spot and offer up their thoughts on whether Nebraska basketball was treated fairly. The loss to Minnesota was bad, but Nebraska also beat Maryland, Penn State, Creighton, and Iowa (twice) — all teams that made the NCAA tournament.

The Huskers also beat Wisconsin and Rutgers, two teams that made the NIT. The loss to Minnesota was bad but the Huskers had a quality resume. However, their 16-16 record wasn’t all that impressive and again, that’s where the loss to Minnesota hurt.

What’s next for Nebraska basketball?

Now that the season is officially over for the Huskers, we can look toward the future. The biggest question is what will Keisei Tominaga do? Will he return for another season, or go to Japan?

There is hope the Huskers can do some things with NIL, although Keisei is limited to earning “passive income” such as money from jersey sales. He can’t actively promote products. It’s always possible things could change with those NIL rules, but at the end of the day, if money is the driving factor, Japan is probably the best bet.

Tominaga has become a star over there. He’s also a star to Nebraska basketball fans and could have as big a following next season as any Husker — ever.

I’m not saying he would be the best player by any means, but social media didn’t exist when Tyronn Lue was around for instance. It would be fun regardless. Nebraska basketball also needs to add some transfers.

We talk about all that and more. We also touch on Nebraska football recruiting, so check out the full episode of the Husker Big Red Podcast below:

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find out podcast on Apple or Spotify

 

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Nebraska Basketball season ends with defensive thud vs. Gophers

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Nebraska basketball lost to the Minnesota Golden Gophers by a 78-75 margin on Wednesday night. There were several crucial plays towards the end of the game. The basketball bouncing off of Sam Griesel while Nebraska tried to score was a difficult break. Two illegal screens in a row also did not help matters. Nevertheless, there was one major theme. The defense struggled throughout the evening.

It wasn’t as if Nebraska had answers for Minnesota either. Minnesota shot 51.9% from the field and 41.7% from beyond the arc.

One of the biggest problems for Nebraska on Wednesday night was being able to stop scores from the inside. Minnesota was able to have their way inside in several aspects. Minnesota freshman Pharrel Payne had six points and four rebounds on the evening. On the other end of the floor, he played solid defensively, shutting down Nebraska big man Derrick Walker.

Jaden Henley and Dawson Garcia had their way inside as well. They finished with 14 and 18 points respectively. They were able to pick apart the Nebraska basketball defense with quick passes and their ability to muscle inside. To be frank, Nebraska basketball had no answer for the inside game, and it became clear that this was going to be a major problem throughout the course of the game.

The defense inside the paint was not the only problem. Nebraska basketball struggled all night in terms of rotations and not getting to the shooter quick enough. They were unable to close out on a player such as Garcia, and he made them pay, going seven-of-13 from the field. He gave Minnesota the lead on a three-ball with 8:35 left in the first half, and the Gophers never looked back.

The aggressive rotations and aggressiveness overall that Nebraska displayed all season defensively was missing. They did not have the defensive energy to match Minnesota and it was noticeable early on. Minnesota was able to play however they wanted offensively, and they were able to establish their dominance inside, opening up space for perimeter shooters. It looked like a cat playing with a mouse.

It was a defensive thud to end the season for Nebraska basketball. Now the offseason begins and questions remain unanswered.

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