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On Saturday afternoon, Indiana came into College Park, Maryland, looking for their first win against the Terrapins since they Joined the Big Ten in 2014.

Danny Manning's squad burst out of the gates on an 8-0 run to open the game, two threes and a hook shot had things looking bleak for the Hoosiers early. Mike Woodson, however, didn't flinch.

"I wasn't going to call a timeout. I think sometimes teams have to figure it out… They figured it out," said Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson. "Their offense started to click a little bit, our defense got stingy, and now we're back in the game."

Indiana responded with a 13-0 run, taking sole possession of the momentum. The Hoosiers put a cap on the Terrapins offense for 5:49 seconds, forcing eight consecutive missed field goals, three turnovers, and blocking two shots.

Indiana had accumulated seven points off turnovers when the buzzer sounded for the end of the first half. The Terrapins made 29 percent of their shots. A solid opening half defensively for Mike Woodson's guys.

"Our defense was solid from beginning to end," Woodson said. "When you go out on the road, you have to defend; that's what I told them before the game."

Maryland has been led by three scorers this season, Eric Ayala (16.3 ppg), Fatts Russel (13.1 ppg), and Donta Scott (12.5 ppg).

Indiana did an excellent job of neutralizing those three and forcing the rest of Coach Manning's roster to beat them. The trio combined for 25 points on 6-of-31 shooting (19.3%).

"We set our defense mainly for those two, and Scott, they score the bulk of their points. Everybody who guarded Eric and Russell were locked in. They saw bodies; they weren't able to see gaps where they could make plays off the bounce," Woodson said.

One of those guys was Trey Galloway, who specifically spent a lot of time shadowing Eric Ayala. He was integral in slowing down and eventually completely shutting off Maryland's best scorer. Galloway racked up 2 steals, had a plus/minus of 10, and earned an excellent defensive rating for Indiana at 121.9.

"You know Trey, he's a guy that's going to try to blow things, get steals. He's high energy," IU forward Race Thompson said. "When Trey gets out there, you know what you're going to get out of him."

"When you're defending great offensive players, you've got to play with force. He's done that for us," Woodson added of Galloway. "He changes the game with his defense and his energy."

Maryland would make only four more shots from beyond the arch and finish 6-of-27 from three. Those two early triples were a bit of a fluke at the end of the day.

Indiana's struggles on the road have been apparent. But Coach Woodson has more players in the proper position than we give him credit for. This kind of defensive showing is what will make the Hoosiers claw back in the Big Ten and be mentioned with some of the best teams in the country come selection Sunday.

"This team is continuing to grow," Woodson added. "We just gotta keep bangin' away, man; we'll see where it leads us."

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