Stop me if you've heard this. Nebraska basketball came out for its game against Maryland looking for. a statement win that demonstrated they can handle not only dominating at home, but also getting big wins on the road. They absolutely did not demonstrate that.
Instead, the Huskers showed that once again, a road game means a lack of focus, perhaps a lack of effort and definitely a lack of answers from its head coach. This game was especially galling because it didn't feel like much preparation at all was done for what Maryland does best.
The Terps' strengths are defense and rebounding. But when Maryland went into a full court press down 12-2 to start the game, Nebraska looked confused and unprepared. Or, if they were prepared and that's how head coach Fred Hoiberg wanted them to respond, that might be a bigger problem.
Nothing seems to have gone well for the Cornhuskers on Saturday. Maryland was the worst shooting 3-point team in the conference. They were 11-for-26 (41 percent) from beyond the arc.
Nebraska basketball has talked long and loudly about how they need to do a better job rebounding, weirdly, they need to do that especially on the road. They were outrebounded 43-25. They were outrebounded on the offensive glass 17-3.
The Huskers also tied a season high with 18 turnovers. Which is weirdly a demonstration of how they play at home and on the road. The last time they had 18 TOs, they won their home tilt against Northwestern. Today they lost by 22 points.
Nebraska basketball shoots itself in the foot again
The loss is especially worrisome because it came against a Maryland team that is good but not great. Next up is #13 Wisconsin and #10 Illinois. Three straight losses isn't out of the question.
If Nebraska basketball loses the next two games, a team that looked like a shoo-in for the NCAA Tournament is going to start sweating a bit in that regard.