Thoughts on a 63-55 win over Maryland:
While Aaron Wiggins threw a 3-point home run with 15:14, Indiana got 10 points and got into trouble. The first 25 minutes of action were an abysmal, memorable affair for the Hoosiers.
Poor Franklin left the game with an ankle injury. Trayce Jackson-Davis made just three of his first 11 shots and looks gassed again. Indiana has missed all 11 of its three-point attempts. The offense looked stiff as a plate, and Maryland’s defense forces Indiana into tough, late-in-the-shoot-clock situations, whether via man or zone.
But then Rob Phinisee finally beat Indiana’s first three-pointer of the game to reduce Maryland’s lead by 10 points to seven. Al Durham made his way to the basket for an inlay to reduce it to five points. He hit a three-pointer in Indiana’s subsequent possession. Suddenly, Indiana finds itself just two and with life. Donta Scott scored a second-chance score to put Maryland back on four. Jackson-Davis switched to an en-1 to bring the Hoosiers within a point.
Media timeout with 11:53 to play.
Whatever was said over time, it seemed like it was galvanizing the Hoosiers as they built up their mini-run. Inside a mostly empty assembly hall, the couch became the home crowd, he went crazy and cheered and cheered. Energy started to get energy and the players on the floor made it spin on both sides. The Hoosiers eventually swapped the ten-point deficit for a 12-point lead before opting for an eight-point victory. After a sluggish first half where he looked a bit rushed or maybe looking for contact where it did not come, Jackson-Davis came alive and scored 17 points in the second half, including 12 in the last 11:53 game . At one point he hit knees before going to the line for some free throws. He made sure the coaching staff knew he was staying in the game.
The second year also knocked on the boards and helped the Hoosiers to nine second chances in the second half. He finished the evening with 22 points (9-of-18) and 15 boards, which was another dominant performance for him and just for the Hoosiers. Indiana’s defense also turned it around and made things harder for a Maryland team playing without Darryl Morsell. It looks like the Terrapins got tired when Indiana picked up late.
It also helped that Maryland also didn’t shoot it well in the first 25 minutes of the IU. On paper, Maryland’s offensive style so far this season has been the Indiana’s kryptonite – five-out, above-average three-point shooting – but the Terps hit just 7-of-25 tonight. They also scored just .85 points per possession, the first Big Ten opponent the Hoosiers have had under 1.0 this season.
It was far from a beautiful game. But honor to the Hoosiers. They came together during the last ten minutes of the game and did not let Maryland slip into it again. The win scores them to 2-2 in conference plays where victories can never be guaranteed, wherever you take them wherever you can get them in any way.
Filed to: Maryland Terrapins