COLLEGE PARK, Md. — There are no fans inside the XFinity Center but the building is still a busy, busy place. Due to a rare scheduling quirk, the University of Maryland men's basketball team will play the same opponent on back-to-back nights, at home, for the first time in 94 years.
It’s going to happen against Nebraska (5-12, 1-9) on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday is a makeup game from the January 16 contest postponed due to COVID within the Cornhuskers program. Wednesday’s contest was originally to tip-off in Nebraska.
Now is the time to rack up some wins said Terrapins Head Coach Mark Turgeon.
"The guys, they see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "They know it’s coming to an end soon. So, we got to make haste quickly."
They’ll have their chance. Maryland (11-10, 5-9) is in the middle of three games in four nights following Sunday’s impressive 72-59 win over Minnesota.
"We were definitely locked in from the jump," said Terps guard Aaron Wiggins.
He had a team-leading 17 points and was one of four Terrapins in double figures. Maryland shot 53 percent, their best in a conference game this season.
"Everything was kind of clicking for us. In the first half we made shots. We were able to execute plays and defensively we were really good," said Wiggins.
"It was good to see a couple shots go down, to see us flying around on defense, all locked in on one page," added Terps guards Darryl Morsell. "It was great to see. Multiple guys get into double figures. Hopefully we can carry that over into Tuesday."
That's when the Terps’ quest for an NCAA Tournament bid continues.
"We’ve just been talking about positive energy and confidence - confident energy, confident body language, positive body language," said Turgeon. "Let’s play our best basketball down the stretch."
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