Nebraska basketball: Cornhuskers moves higher up on the bubble
The Nebraska Cornhuskers won its 20th game of the season as they extended their winning streak to six with a huge bubble victory over Maryland.
As we entered the month of February, Nebraska had six games left on their schedule. One way people were looking at it was that the Cornhuskers had an easy path to winning 23 games and staying out of double-digit losses. The negative part was that none of the teams besides Maryland were going to be impact full.
Maryland on the other hand has had such an up and down season. Going back to the start of this month, the Terrapins were sliding on a three-game losing streak. They’ve only gone 2-2 since, with wins over Wisconsin and Northwestern while losing to Penn State and now Nebraska.
I mentioned it last week that both teams were on the bubble. Nebraska was trending up while Maryland was on a skid downward. So obviously this game head-to-head was going to make a huge impact on the fate of their seasons going forward.
Surprisingly Maryland had a two-point halftime lead on Tuesday night. The Cornhuskers just looked like they were the better team that half.
Bruno Fernando has certainly been a nice contributor this season. He’s a freshman who stands at six-foot-ten and has played nicely with the absence of Justin Jackson for most of the season. He found a great match up against Nebraska. Fernando looked dominant down low early on and finished the game with 21 points, five assists, nine boards and two blocks.
Nebraska wouldn’t let a two-point deficit keep them down for long though. The transfer from Miami Jesse Palmer continued to stay hot and went off in the second half. The junior guard finished with 26 points on 10 for 19 shooting and five assists.
Sophomore forward Isaiah Roby got tired of losing the front court battle and he stepped up huge. He was the second Cornhusker in double-figures as he recorded a double-double at 11 points and 10 boards while also adding three blocks.
Nebraska held a lead as much as 63-56 in the second half. That came at the 5:42 mark after Palmer knocked down a jump shot from Roby. It was literally their show all half.
Certainly records don’t mean as much as they used to. Just because a team has 20 wins, doesn’t translate a berth into the NCAA Tournament. Nebraska still has an SOS of 117 and RPI of 53.
Maryland has a little better of an SOS at 32, but their RPI is 62. Maryland did not take advantages of non-conference games. Their only good victory came against Butler. Now that Maryland has 11 overall losses and a 6-9 conference record, the win really doesn’t mean much anymore.
Nebraska’s strength of schedule is certainly showing. They have a nice overall record (20-8) and conference record (11-4), but their best non-conference victory came to Boston College. The Eagles are actually having a better ACC season than most expected, but it’s nothing too impressive.
Next: Big Ten Basketball Bubble Watch
Maryland is in trouble. Despite the loss to Penn State which was supposed to be basically an elimination game, the Terrapins overall numbers were keeping them in the bubble conversation. With an RPI north of 60 and losses to two Big Ten bubble teams, Maryland is in the danger zone.
I think the Cornhuskers sit pretty nice moving forward though. Maryland was their toughest opponent down the stretch and they took care of them. Indiana and Penn State won’t be easy, but Nebraska just needs to keep winning. I don’t want to hear that the competition isn’t that great. The Big Ten is still a power conference. Nebraska actually looks good. The guards are clicking and they’re determined.