Instant Rewind: Maryland 78, Indiana 75
Indiana has lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, dropping Friday's game to Maryland, 78-75. Their record is now 12-4 and 3-2 in the Big Ten.
Scroll below for instant reaction as the game unfolded.
7:00 p.m. ET -- Devonte Green will start in place of Rob Phinisee, who is available but will have his role adjusted based on his conditioning. Romeo Langford, Justin Smith, Juwan Morgan, and Al Durham round out the Indiana starting five.
15:40 1H: Indiana 11, Maryland 2 -- Bruno Fernando has been the Terrapins' focal point early on. Their first three possessions included posting him up and trying to get him the ball. Juwan Morgan has done a good job of holding his own without fouling to this point. Offensively, Morgan is cutting to force Fernando to be mobile. The Hoosiers have started the game on a 9-0 run, which is important, considering their struggles early in games.
10:24 1H: Indiana 19, Maryland 9 -- The Hoosiers have attacked the rim on almost every offensive possession so far in the game. Maryland is having a tough time matchup up with the athleticism and strength of Justin Smith when he attacks. He did a nice job of freeing himself up rolling to the basket on one possession, but tried to make the (unnecessary) extra pass and threw it out of bounds. Regardless, the roll Smith made will be key to making Fernando move defensively.
7:56 1H: Indiana 23, Maryland 11 -- The Hoosiers have had active hands on defense early in this one. Morgan has been especially active, stripping drivers and players posting up as an off-ball defender. That's causing issues for Maryland when they try to slow it down and get it to Fernando, and when they attack the rim. De'Ron Davis has checked into the game and looks uncomfortable out there. He's currently playing with an injured ankle.
3:43 1H: Indiana 28, Maryland 18 -- Langford has come out of the media timeout in attack mode. He's getting whatever he wants right now, and Indiana is a completely different team when he's playing like this. There isn't anyone on Maryland who can guard him. This is the best Indiana's offense has looked all year. They've played a lot of two-man game with Langford as the ball handler and Morgan as the screener.
Halftime: Indiana 35, Maryland 27 -- Langford and Morgan continue to carry this team on both ends of the floor. If Morgan keeps winning his battles with Fernando, the Hoosiers might be able to grow this lead even further. He's not allowing Fernando to step through when he faces up, and he's closing any space that the Maryland big tries to create. The Terrapins were able to close the gap before the half, but the Hoosiers are still in a good position the rest of the way.
17:50 2H: Indiana 37, Maryland 33 -- Indiana starts the second half with more two-man game between Langford and Morgan. Morgan did a great job of slipping and getting to the rim for an easy two. That's the only bucket for Indiana so far in what has been a difficult start to the second half. Maryland is starting to play better on both ends of the floor. Indiana could use some help from its bench, which has yet to score, but right now they should look to Langford and Morgan to gain some momentum.
10:39 2H: Maryland 50, Indiana 44 -- The start of the second half looks like what you'd expect the start of the first half to look like. Archie Miller finally calls a timeout to try to halt the run. The Hoosiers are getting good looks, they're just not falling right now. They haven't gone downhill as much in the second half and I fully expect them to do that more the rest of the way. On defense, Justin Smith's absence is being felt right now. He's been the Hoosiers' main help defender on Bruno Fernando. Devonte Green can't finish anything on offense in the game, and Anthony Cowan is attacking him when Green is defending him.
7:31 2H: Maryland 59, Indiana 50 -- Bruno Fernando is pulling down offensive boards for Maryland at an impressive rate. Indiana needs to be more physical when they box him out to keep him out of position and force him to go over the back. Langford has struggled in the second half and is hesitant on the offensive end of the floor. Making a few shots could help him with confidence and get the Hoosiers' offense rolling again. He's shooting two free throws out of the media timeout that will be fairly important.
2:47 2H: Maryland 69, Indiana 60 -- Langford hit both free throws to cut the lead to seven, but Maryland went right back to Bruno Fernando to bring it back to nine. The Hoosiers need to provide help when he gets the ball in the post. They're getting to the rim more on offense, which is a positive sign. Green continues to struggle attacking the hoop, so Indiana is going to need Langford the rest of the way. Fernando banked in a three, which says a lot about how this game has gone in the second half.
Final: Maryland 78, Indiana 75 -- Langford spent the last three minutes of the game trying to will Indiana back into it, but ultimately came up short. Fernando made the difference in the second half for Maryland, getting whatever he wanted in the post.
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