After two consecutive games away from home, Indiana basketball was back inside Assembly Hall for a Big Ten battle with (RV) Maryland on Sunday afternoon.
The Hoosiers, despite a strong surge in the second half led by Myles Rice, fell in heartbreaking fashion to the Terrapins. With the loss, Indiana drops to 14-7 overall and 5-5 in Big Ten play.
Here's how the Sunday matinee unfolded.
TIGHTLY CONTESTED, RHYTHM-LESS FIRST HALF
Sunday's first half inside of Assembly Hall was tightly contested. Neither Indiana nor Maryland played exceptionally well, however, at the same time, neither played poorly.
Both teams essentially traded buckets back-and-forth for much of the opening 20 minutes. The longest run for either team in the first half came during a 90-second stretch in the middle of the first half, where the Terrapins scored seven straight to take a four point lead.
Outside of that mini-run Maryland went on around the halfway point of the first half, there was only one other instance in which either team scored on more than two possessions without being answered.
The first-half box score told a similar story, with Indiana shooting 45% from the field to Maryland's 41%—although both teams managed 14 makes from the field in the opening period.
The Terrapins made four 3-points to the Hoosiers' three long balls, and Maryland won the first-half battle on the boards, albeit by just four total rebounds. Second-chance points were even, as were fast break points and makes from the free throw line.
The one area of the game were there was a decisive leader one way or the other was in bench points. Indiana's bench accounted for 14 of Indiana's 38 first-half points, where as Maryland's bench accounted for just two points in the opening 20 minutes.
All told, it was Indiana that took a slight lead into the. halftime intermission, leading Maryland 38-37 at the break.
THE BATTLE OF THE BIGS NOT THE DECIDING FACTOR
Entering Sunday afternoon's affair, the biggest individual matchup was down low between Indiana and Maryland's set of big men. Whoever won the battle of Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo versus Julian Reese and Derik Queen would have a sizable leg up on their opponent.
In the first half, despite Indiana leading at the break, it was the Terrapins' set of bigs that had the slight upper hand.
Renau and Ballo accounted for two and 10 first-half points respectively, while the former played just six minutes in the opening due to early foul trouble. Ballo grabbed six rebounds in the first 20 minutes of the game, with two coming on the offensive glass. On the flip side, Reese and Queen combined for 14 first-half points, as well as 12 rebounds.
The battle down low was a good win in the first half, with neither duos having much of an upper hand over the other.
The second half was more of the same. For Indiana, neither Reneau nor Ballo were anything special. They each had their moments, but neither was dominant. The paring combined for 12 points and 11 rebounds in the second frame.
For Maryland, Reese and Queen weren't much of a factor in the second half. The duo combined for seven points and nine rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
Overall, Indiana's big men combined for 24 points and 16 rebounds, while Maryland's bigs went for 21 points and 22 rebounds.
In the end, it wasn't the battle of the big men that decided the contest on Sunday afternoon.
MYLES RICE LEADS SECOND-HALF CHARGE THAT FALLS JUST SHORT
Myles Rice wasn't much of a factor in the first half on Sunday. Indiana's point guard totaled just two points, missing both of his field goals, in the opening frame.
He added a rebound and two assists, but didn't make much of a tangible impact on the game throughout the first 20 minutes. That changed in a big way come the second half.
After leading by one at the halftime intermission. Indiana came out flat to start the second half. A little over halfway through the second half, Maryland had opened up a double-figure lead.
With 9:12 to play, and the Hoosiers trailing by 10, Rice hit his first second-half 3-pointer. He then hit his second just 75 seconds later to pull Indiana to within three.
All told, Rice poured in 14 second half points. However, Rice was short on his biggest shot of the final 20 minutes. After Maryland guard Rodney Rice drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer from the left wing to put the Terrapins up by one with 5 seconds to play, Rice was short on a contested 3-pointer with less than three seconds to play, as Indiana fell to Maryland.
FINAL STATS
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