COLLEGE PARK — Recent history suggests that 16th-ranked Maryland will not blow out Nebraska on Thursday night at Xfinity Center, despite the fact that the Cornhuskers have lost five of their past six games, with all the defeats coming in double figures.
The reason is simple: the Terps have not beaten a Big Ten opponent by that kind of margin in over a month, not since a 75-59 victory over Michigan State at home on Jan. 17. Of its four wins in the seven games since, including two straight, Maryland (21-5, 9-4 Big Ten Conference) has won by a total of 12 points.
"We're obviously very confident in close games," Terps coach Mark Turgeon said Wednesday. "We've been somewhat successful. A lot of it is that guys step up and make free throws, they execute offensively and then when we have to have stops, we get stops. I think we all feel comfortable in those situations."
Though the Terps have won all of their close games this season — eight decided by six points or less, including the past two that went down to the final possession — they have not been able to put opponents away early. Even in Saturday's 76-73 win at Penn State, Maryland lost all of what had been a 13-point lead.
Asked afterwards whether the game got close because the Nittany Lions kept making shots or the Terps had a letdown, junior forward Jake Layman said, "Just a couple of defensive mistakes. When we do get up big, not showing on ball screens, stuff like that. It's all things that we fix."
Said Turgeon: "I think we're playing good teams. They get hot. We got in foul trouble in that game, and they made a lot of plays in a row. It happens. We were gutsy enough to give up the lead and still get the victory. That's really what matters."
Layman admitted Wednesday that some of that might be mental.
"I think that can definitely be a distraction when you're up 13 on a team. You might take your foot off the pedal a little bit," Layman said. "That's hurt us a little bit this year. It's something we've got to keep working on."
The Terps hope to change that pattern against the Cornhuskers, who have been the Big Ten's most disappointing team this season.
Picked to finish fourth in the preseason after making the NCAA tournament a year ago, Nebraska (13-12, 5-8) has struggled despite having two of the top seven scorers in the Big Ten — juniors Terran Petteway (third at 18.6 points) and Shavon Shields (15.2).
"Obviously they have a good team. This year hasn't really gone as they expected. They have a player who can go for 30 any night, and that scares you," Turgeon said, referring to Petteway.
Nebraska coach Tim Miles said his team's struggles come down to its inability to make 3-point shots. The Cornhuskers are shooting 28.8 percent from beyond the arc, putting them 334th out of 351 Division I teams.
"We just don't make 3s at all," Miles said Monday on the Big Ten coaches' teleconference. "It's frustrating, when you can't open the floor a little bit. Our defense seems to be good enough, but apparently defense is overrated, and it is certainly overrated when you're offense is down at the bottom 20 percent in the country. We better figure it out and get on a run late."
The Terps come into Thursday's game having hit 19 of their past 40 from 3-point range (47.5 percent), and 47 of their past 96 from the field (49.0 percent). To continue that offensive success, the Terps will need to keep the ball moving as they did in last week's victories over Indiana and Penn State.
Maryland also cannot afford to overlook Nebraska with its much-anticipated matchup against Big Ten frontrunner Wisconsin looming on Tuesday. That game will mark the middle of a three-game homestand that concludes with Senior Day on Feb. 28 against Michigan.
"It's weird having three in a row at home," said Turgeon, whose team has won all six of its previous Big Ten games at Xfinity Center and has lost only to No. 2 Virginia there. "It doesn't happen very often. We don't talk about the standings, we don't talk about rankings, we just talk about trying to get better and trying to beat Nebraska. That's keeps us pretty focused."
Said senior guard Dez Wells: "We have to go out as if we have nothing to lose. Everyone wants to get their signature win against us. We have to be ready to protect what's ours, to protect this domain that we play in."
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