Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg makes big statements about Maryland, objects to foul: "It was not a good call."
Maryland got some tough calls, but it was Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg who took issue with the officials afterward, before lavishing praise on the Terps.
Maryland basketball survived a physical game at Nebraska with an 83-75 win on Thursday night, thanks largely to Kevin Willard's strategy of pounding the ball inside in the second half. Willard's team had a big advantage in the paint, and strategically, he might have known the Terps were due for some calls after a few questionable ones went against them in the first half.
But it was Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg, not Willard, who took issue with the officials afterward. His complaint was about a foul called on center Andrew Morgan with 8 minutes 38 seconds left and Maryland leading by three Rodney Rice made one of the two ensuing free throws and Morgan (15 points), who gave Maryland's big men some problems in the post for the second time this season, returned about three minutes later and scored Nebraska's only four points of the final three minutes.
"It was not a good call. And we'd found a good formula with Andrew, we were getting the ball, running short pick-and-roll actions and getting it to the pocket. Andrew was going to work on the cleared side and that hurt us when he picked up that fourth. And it's part of it. Those things happen. You got to keep battling, you got to keep fighting," he said.
Hoiberg also talked about how hard Connor Essegian (0 for 6, zero points in nine minutes), a sharpshooter Maryland wanted from the portal last summer, struggled to play through illness. And how he didn't have one of his best big men, 6-10 sophomore Berke Buyuktuncel, to counter Maryland's massive Julian Reese-Derik Queen post duo. They combined for 37 points and 23 rebounds, making 14 of 17 shots.
"Queen coming off whatever it was -- 29 and 15 in his last one [against Rutgers]. And we certainly missed Berke out there for size on him. I thought our guys battled. But that size, length, skill, skillset that he has, that's hard to battle when you're down one of your 6-10 guys. And then Andrew's fourth foul was ... You guys saw it," Hoiberg said.
Hoiberg didn't spare any compliments for Maryland (19-6 overall, 9-5 Big Ten), which has won six of its past seven games, the only flaw during that span coming when they blew a 17-point lead and lost in the final minute at Ohio State.
"I mean, listen. That's a really good team that's very hot right now, as hot as any team in the league. And they are shot makers. They are tough shot-makers, and the one thing we said is, you can't let it deflate you," Hoiberg said. "We faced, like I said, probably the hottest team in the league right now. That's, I want to say, six of seven for that team right now. They really only lost [when] they had a double-digit lead at Ohio State, so this team's rolling. We had our chances."
Willard was happy to escape with a win in Lincoln, where Nebraska has been tough to beat.
"I've told everyone for the longest time, since I got into this conference, that this is one of the toughest places to play," Willard said. "It's a great fan base. They're loud, they're into the game and I was really impressed with our guys, that every time they made a run, we had a big-time answer. It shows you that we've grown up a little bit as a team, we've grown up. We didn't get too frazzled at all. We just kind of stayed into it made some big plays. And give them some credit too because they made some big shots too."
More Hoiberg quotes below:
On Maryland's offense: "The ones that hurt you are the are the transition ones. Those are the ones that, you can test them in the halfcourt [and] if they make those all game, you shake their hand and move on. But I thought we had a couple plays where we rushed it in the paint. Went up [off] one foot, fell down and that's what got them out in transition."
On Brice Williams missed open three in the final moments: "Brice had an unbelievable look after that timeout. It hit every part of the rim, didn't go in. You can't ask for a better look or a better shot. I mean, that thing was halfway down and unfortunately just didn't fall. That would have cut it to one. But again, those things happen. It can't deflate us. It's been a while since we've lost, and we have to handle it the right way
On his team's struggles inside: "Brice had a really good one where he pumps faked, got Queen up in the air and got himself to the free-throw line. But I thought we were rushed at the rim. We talked about making smart plays at the rim and I thought that fueled their break a little bit. But again, that's a really good basketball team, you know,
On Essegian: "Connor, you can see in his [face]. I thought he was really flushed in his face and it's hard to go out there and play against a team with those kinds of athletes and those kinds of shot-makers when you're not 100%
On the close ending: "We were right there at the end. Same thing when we played at their place a couple weeks ago. We cut that thing back down to one possession at the end and we tied it, actually, and we couldn't get the stop when it mattered. And so, we're hanging with the best team. And I've said this before, guys, you can play well in this league and lose."
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More on Maryland "They made one three in the second half and they only shot four ... They're the best big-to-big passing team I think in the country. I mean, that play Reese made to Queen when he caught it with his left hand and just flicked it to Queen was an unbelievable play. And we got our hands on some balls. We just couldn't quite come up with them ... There were also some possessions where we guarded really well, and they made a tough shot."
