Maryland men’s basketball knew that it had a serious test ahead when it prepared to go on the road to face No. 12 Nebraska. The Cornhuskers have turned their program around, with three of their four losses on the year coming against top-10 opponents in Michigan, Illinois and Purdue.
For 30 minutes, the Terps had a legitimate chance to pass the test and add themselves to that list. Even though a late-game stall condemned Maryland to a 74-61 defeat, the Terps’ early efforts might have let them hold
onto a passing grade.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s game.
Maryland is a changed team…
A month ago, Maryland was on the road against Michigan State, the No. 10 team in the country. The Terps were doubled up in the score column at the break, down 46-23, and it got ugly early — Maryland was in a nine-point hole 5:05 into the game.
On Wednesday, at halftime against the No. 12 team in the country, Maryland was down just six points. The Terps didn’t trail by nine until there was 5:35 remaining in the contest.
Attendees of that Michigan State game might have thought it impossible for the Terps to put up an effort like they did against the Cornhuskers, but Maryland has turned things around in a manner that could — and should — inspire more faith in head coach Buzz Williams.
Some of the changes have come from individuals. Andre Mills was 1-of-8 from the floor and scored five points in 15 minutes against the Spartans. A month later, his 19 points against Nebraska were almost a disappointment — he’d cleared 20 in three of his last four games.
But Williams has also seemed to figure out how to get this team to work. Starters from the Jan. 24 starting lineup in Isaiah Watts and Diggy Coit have been replaced by Mills and Collin Metcalf. Not only have they played better themselves, but they also have allowed the players around them to play better.
Solomon Washington is far better suited moving out from directly under the rim, and Elijah Saunders is best not being near the rim at all — his career-high five 3-pointers kept Maryland afloat while Mills warmed up.
And defensively, the team seemed to know what it was doing — certainly more than it did against the Spartans, whose 60.7% shooting night from the field was the team’s best since 2023.
Nebraska entered the game shooting a lot of 3-pointers, and shooting them well. Maryland knew that and held its opponents to a below-average game from beyond the arc while at least hanging on near the net.
There was a little bit of luck involved — Mills’ heavily-contested prayer shot a minute before the break had no business going in.
But a lot of it was the game plan. Maryland looks like a team that can hang around in the Big Ten. It is still outmatched talent and roster composition-wise. But the difference between the Maryland team that played a similar-level game a month ago and the Maryland team that played Wednesday was vast.
…until Diggy Coit steps on the floor.
The plus/minus statistic tracks how a much team outscores — or is outscored by — when any given player is on the court.
The Terps lost by 13 points. Saunders’ plus/minus was -14 over 36 minutes of play, which suggests the game wasn’t too impacted by his brief absences. In his 18 minutes, Metcalf’s plus/minus was -3, suggesting the Terps fared far better when he was on the court.
Coit’s plus/minus across 19 minutes was -25.
He entered the first half when Maryland was leading, 6-1. The Terps got outscored 18-7 over the next eight minutes — until he got subbed out, when Maryland suddenly found an 8-4 run.
He entered the second half when Maryland was leading, 48-47. He played for three minutes, in which time Nebraska ripped off a 9-3 run and he missed three of four 3-point attempts.
Williams then brought him back in for his last extended stretch when the Terps were down 10 with under five minutes left in the game. He wasn’t necessarily wrong for that one — when Coit gets hot, he can turn a game in an instant in a way that no other player for Maryland can.
But Coit is as hot as the Antarctic right now. He has made just two of his last 22 3-point attempts.
As the numbers would suggest, misses do not deter Coit from shooting. And the shots he takes, whether from deep or midrange, often come at the expense of sustained ball movement, where the rock could find the hands of a teammate in a better spot.
Maryland was moving the ball well all game — 15 of its 21 makes were assisted. But Coit took the burden on himself as the game slipped away. He’s pulled the rabbit out of the hat before, but the magic ran dry.
He was worse defensively than offensively, too. It was easier for Nebraska to score when he was playing — they would focus on getting mismatches on him or just overpowering him and blowing right by in isolated looks.
When Coit returned, the Maryland of old returned. The team’s collective floor is higher without him on the court.
Small errors killed the Terps
Williams has accepted fouls being a part of his team’s defense, but a team getting more free throw attempts in the first half (13) than the second half (11) like Nebraska did Wednesday is a rare occurrence.
Nebraska got to the free throw line all game against Maryland, much to the Terps’ detriment.
Metcalf has been an important part of Maryland’s gameplan, but when he picked up his fourth foul with 9:51 remaining in the game, Williams opted to try to preserve him. Coit entered the game in his place, and the Terps’ lead quickly evaporated. Maryland needs its starting center to be on the court in late-game situations.
The Terps haven’t been able to take advantage of fouls going the other way, either. They have single-digit free throw makes in three of their last four games.
Turnovers also hit in key situations. Maryland only committed four in the second half, but Nebraska’s quick transitions led to nine points off of them, including the 3-pointer that pushed its lead to double digits.
The execution has improved from the Terps over the duration of the season, particularly in the assists column. And they have shown an ability to gut games out when they are close. But Maryland still has to limit turnovers and fouls to keep those games close and give themselves a chance.
