Nebraska

Nebraska Hoops Game Day: at Maryland

Published

1 year ago

January 19, 2025

Riding a three-game losing skid and seeing its 20-game home winning streak snapped, Nebraska desperately needs to get its season back on track today at Maryland.

Here is what you need to know going into another daunting road test for the Huskers this afternoon in College Park…

Who, What, Where, When

Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-5, 2-4 Big Ten) at Maryland Terrapins (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten)

Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025 – 11:00 a.m. CT

Xfinity Center (17,950)

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: Huskers Radio Network

Internet/Streaming: Fox Sports App

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Nebraska projected starters

Rollie Worster	G	Sr.	6-5/210	Ended up with 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists to finish with a team-best +/- of 14 in the loss to Rutgers. He also shot 8-10 at the free-throw line.
Brice Williams	G	Sr.	6-7/214	Scored a team-high 21 points in the loss to Rutgers. He’s averaging 18.9 ppg on the season while shooting a career-high 48.5% from the field and 40 percent on 3-pointers.
Juwan Gary	F	Sr.	6-6/226	Finished with 20 points in the loss to Rutgers, two shy of matching his career high. That marked his 11th double-figure scoring effort of the year and second 20-point game.
Berke Buyuktuncel	F	So.	6-10/224	Held scoreless on 0-4 shooting with two assists, two turnovers, and four fouls over his 21 minutes of work against Rutgers. His +/- of 10 still ranked second on the team.
Braxton Meah	F	Sr.	7-1/264	He made all three of his shot attempts to finish with six points, six rebounds, and a blocked shot over 17 minutes of work in the loss to Rutgers.

Maryland projected starters

Ja’Kobi Gillespie	G	Fr.	6-6/215	Belmont transfer who is averaging 13.9 ppg on 47 percent shooting, including 41 percent from 3-point range. He also leads UMD with 4.3 apg) and 1.7 spg.
Rodney Rice	G	Sr.	6-4/210	He’s scoring 12.4 points per game while ranking second on the team with 2.4 assists per game this season.
Selton Miguel	G	Fr.	6-10/200	He’s averaging 11.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game while starting all 18 contests for Maryland this season.
Julian Reese	F	Fr.	6-7/205	All-Big Ten selection who is averaging 13.2 ppg on 58 percent shooting and leads Maryland in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and blocked shots (1.3 bpg).
Derik Queen	C	Fr.	6-10/275	A true freshman who leads Maryland in scoring with 15.8 ppg on 56 percent shooting while hauling in 8.1 rebounds per game.

3 keys to victory

Defend the 3

It really doesn’t matter who Nebraska is playing – the Huskers’ 3-point defense has become a critical concern over its three-game losing streak. Iowa (17), Purdue (19), and Rutgers (12) combined to hit a whopping 48 threes. That’s 16.0 made 3-pointers per game. Head coach Fred Hoiberg said after the Rutgers loss that it wasn’t a schematic issue but that his team needed to defend the perimeter with better effort and consistency. To prevent today from becoming a repeat performance, Nebraska better be locked in with its close-outs, rotations, and contests from start to finish. Maryland comes in ranked fifth in the Big Ten, shooting at a 35.9% clip from behind the arc. Again, the opponent won’t matter if NU cannot make life more difficult on teams from deep. The Huskers currently rank 358th out of 364 Division I teams, with 49.8% of their opponent scoring coming off 3-pointers.

Battle on the boards

One area that has made Maryland such a tough matchup this season is how effective the Terrapins have been on the glass this season. UMD ranks fifth in the Big Ten in rebounding (37.3 rpg) out-rebounds its opponents by more than five rebounds per game. Big men Julian Reese (fifth, 8.7 rpg) and Derik Queen (seventh, 8.1) rank among the Big Ten’s top rebounders, with Reese tied for first in the league with 3.2 offensive boards per game. The Huskers just gave up 17 offensive rebounds for 19 second-chance points against Rutgers. If they can’t finish defensive possessions with strong rebounding, it could be another long day on the defensive end.

How much do you want it?

Ace Bailey’s voice better still echo through the heads of every Nebraska player today at Maryland. The Scarlet Knights’ stellar freshman called the Huskers out repeatedly during Thursday night’s game, yelling, “We want it more than them!” Juwan Gary said that added salt to the Huskers’ wounds. It also forced them to look into the mirror after a third consecutive Big Ten defeat. For NU to get its season back on track, it must play like the team that wants it more. In two of their past three losses (Iowa and Rutgers), they’ve left feeling like they were the better team. They just didn’t finish the job. Today’s game will measure what this team is all about. Their effort and intensity at Maryland will say plenty about the chances of getting this train back on the tracks.

Quotable

“That’s all I kept hearing Ace Bailey say tonight. ‘We want it more.’ That hurt as a player. I know no team wants it more than my guys, for sure. But they proved it today.”
Senior forward Juwan Gary on Rutgers’ star Ace Bailey’s comments during Nebraska’s loss on Thursday night.

Prediction

Maryland (-9.5) 81, Nebraska 71

Robin’s season record: 14-2

Vs. the spread: 8-8

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Nebraska

What Iowa coach Ben McCollum said after defeating Nebraska on Thursday

Published

3 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

What Iowa coach Ben McCollum said after defeating Nebraska on Thursday

Iowa coach Ben McCollum met with the media following his team’s 77-71 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Sweet 16. The Cornhuskers led by three at the half but Iowa was able to outscore Nebraska 34-25 in the second half.

Pryce Sandfort led all scorers with 25 points while shooting 8 of 13 from the field and 6 of 10 from the 3-point line. Bennett Stirtz led the Hawkeyes with 20 points and played for all 40 minutes.

Iowa shot 52% (27-52) from the floor, 43% (13-30) from beyond the arc and 83% (10-12) from the free throw line. Nebraska struggled shooting 41% (24-58) from the field, 34% (13-38) from the 3-point line and 91% (10-11) from the charity stripe.

The Hawkeyes’ head coach acknowledged that his team had a poor start but a great finish and said that his team will need to play better to advance beyond the Elite Eight.

Yeah, I think to start we weren’t fantastic to start. They had an elite game plan to start. They played with elite pace. They adjusted their defense quite a bit. I think a lot of people will talk about the rivalry. I was around it when I was in Iowa, you know, and grew up in Iowa and understand the rivalry and whatnot. It’s nice to have — I guess if you would a call it rival that runs such a class program.
I think Coach Hoiberg, they have got great kids. They completely turned everything around from the previous season, and they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about or anything. I have the utmost respect for them, all their players, and especially Coach Hoiberg. Heck of a season. I know it’s no consolation, but we still want to beat ’em every time and they want to beat us every time.
But from and internal perspective, there’s not a lot of bad blood there. It’s actually a lot of respect. I was really pleased with our second-half performance. I thought we actually decided we were going to try — not try. They had a lot to do with it, but kind of. Yeah, they’re smiling over there because they saw me break my marker.
And I thought our kids did a good job of executing offensively in both halves. We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that we could score, and you saw the result of that. We didn’t defend. But we were able to score, so we were able to stay in the game long enough and then get enough stops and had some big possessions down the stretch. Really good program win for everybody, coaches, managers, everybody included.

Iowa advances to the Elite Eight with the victory. Nebraska’s season ends with a record of 28-7.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: What Iowa coach Ben McCollum said after defeating Nebraska on Thursday

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Nebraska

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen appoints Antonio Gomez to Racing and Gaming Commission

Published

15 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen appoints Antonio Gomez to Racing and Gaming Commission

LINCOLN, Neb — Gov. Jim Pillen has appointed Antonio Gomez of Jackson to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, adding a longtime Siouxland business leader and public servant to the panel.

Commission members serve four-year terms and are subject to approval by the Nebraska Legislature.

Gomez launched Gomez Pallets in South Sioux City in 1983. He has since retired from daily operations, but last year the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce recognized him with the W. Edwards Deming Business Leadership and Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.

Gomez previously served on the Nebraska Commission on Latino Americans from 1981 to 2002. He also served as a Dakota County commissioner for 12 years and was on the Foundation Board for Northeast Community College.

Gomez’s appointment is effective April 1.

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CBS Sports predicts Nebraska-Iowa basketball in the Sweet 16

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

CBS Sports predicts Nebraska-Iowa basketball in the Sweet 16

The Nebraska Cornhuskers will face the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. This is the Huskers’ first Sweet 16 in program history, while Iowa is playing in its first Sweet 16 since 1999.

Nebraska defeated Vanderbilt 74-72 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa advanced after beating the defending national champion, the Florida Gators, 73-72.

CBS Sports reporter Isaac Trotter broke down Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup. Trotter started by looking at the two previous matchups in this series.

These teams have played twice. Iowa won at home in a 57-52 rockfight. Nebraska returned the favor by winning at home, 84-75 in overtime, in another to-the-death brawl.

It’s no secret that Nebraska’s defense caused significant problems for the Iowa offense in the second game, and if the Hawkeyes are going to win the rubber match, Trotter believes that turnovers will be the key.

There are no secrets in the rubber match. Nebraska’s no-middle defense has given Iowa real problems both times. The Hawkeyes turned it over 20% of the time in Game 1 and 26% of the time in Game 2. That can’t happen in the third encounter.

CBS Sports believes that Iowa has the best player on the floor in Bennett Stirtz, but Trotter also believes that Nebraska’s defense is just too much in the end for Iowa.

Iowa has the best player on the floor, Bennett Stirtz, and can hurt Nebraska on the glass, but the Huskers get the nod because of this pick-and-roll defense. You have to be able to guard ball screens effectively to shut down Iowa, and Nebraska has been an elite pick-and-roll defense, rating in the 99th percentile nationally, per Synergy.

In the end, Trotter selected Nebraska as his pick. Should the Huskers advance to the Elite Eight, Nebraska would play the winner of the Illinois-Houston game. Nebraska-Iowa play in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m. CT on TBS.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: CBS Sports predicts Nebraska-Iowa basketball in the Sweet 16

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