Know Your Opponent: Maryland

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Indiana seeks a quality road win against a Maryland team that is beginning to pick up some steam.

This season has been an unconventional and challenging one for Maryland. Former coach Mark Turgeon left the team early in the season, leaving assistant Danny Manning at the helm as the interim head coach. Maryland is talented but understandably struggled during the unexpected mid-season coaching transition.

The Terapins are just 11-9 (3-6 in the Big Ten) but are headed in the right direction. Two of their three Big Ten victories have come in the last week -- an 81-65 win against Illinois and a 68-60 win at Rutgers. Things may be turning around for Maryland, and Indiana is catching them at a bad time.

The main standout on the roster is fourth-year guard Eric Ayala, who Hoosier fans should be plenty familiar with by now. He is posting the best season of his career, leading the team in points (16.3 ppg). A threat from outside, Ayala has taken the second-most threes in the Big Ten at 140 and is hitting 37.1 percent of them. 55 percent of his overall shot attempts have come from three this season and has 11 games with at least three made 3s.

Rhode Island transfer Fatts Russell is only 5-foot-10, but he can score and pass at a high level. He leads the team in assists (3.8 apg) and is second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg). Russell can pick on weak defenders but struggles against good on-ball defense due to his lack of size. With Rob Phinisee's absence due to injury, it will be interesting to see if Russell succeeds once Xavier Johnson exits the game for rest. Russell is much more of an attacking guard and sees most of his production in and around the paint. He only shoots 32.2 percent from three on the season but he can be streaky.

Third-year 6-foot-7 forward Donta Scott is the third scoring option (12.5 ppg) and leads the team in rebounds per game (6.7). Scott takes over four threes per game but has struggled to knock them down, shooting just 30.5 percent on shots beyond the arc. He has raised that to a touch over 34 percent in Big Ten play. Most of his touches allow him to face up and use his athleticism against opponents. Defensively, he is a poor one-on-one defender statistically but can hold his own if he is not singled out.

Qudus Wahab is another newcomer who transferred in from Georgetown. Wahab won't blow you away statistically (8.4 ppg and 6.1 rpg), but he has great size at 6-foot-11 and 237 lbs and presents a formidable presence inside. Wahab has struggled against the bigs in the Big Ten, seeing his numbers drop to 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. His shooting percentage - which is all inside the paint -- drops from 61.3 percent in non conference games to just 48.8 percent in Big Ten matchups.

The remaining starter is Hakim Hart, who scores 9.5 points per game and is among the team's best defenders. Hart can hold his own against big men and guards at 6-foot-6 but struggles to defend the pick-and-roll. He does rank fourth in the Big Ten at 1.6 steals per game.

To this point, Maryland has struggled to get any production from its bench outside of freshman Julian Reese (6.2 ppg). Reese was No. 83 on the Rivals150 and has great size for a wing at 6-9 but is still raw as a player. Ian Martinez and Xavier Green are the other two options off the bench but only combine for 4.6 points per game for the backcourt.

G - Fatts Russell (Sr; 5-10; 165)

Season Stats: 16.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.8 apg

G - Eric Ayala (Sr; 6-5; 195)

Season Stats: 16.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.9 apg

G - Hakim Hart (Jr; 6-6; 200)

Season Stats: 9.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.1 apg

G- Donta Scott (Jr; 6-7; 225)

Season Stats: 12.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg

F - Qudus Wahab (Sr; 6-9; 240)

Season Stats: 8.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg

Free throw shooting. Maryland averages the most fouls per game against in-conference opponents at 14.9 per game. If Indiana can get to the rim and knock down their free throws, it will give them a massive advantage. Maryland also ranks second in the Big Ten in free throws per game (20.1).

Indiana's bench will also be crucial to winning this game. Maryland doesn't have many role players beyond their starting lineup while Indiana has great depth. If the Hoosier bench can go on a few runs throughout the game, it should wear out Maryland's starters and allow IU's starters to finish them off.

The start of the game will also be crucial for Indiana. Against Penn State, the Hoosiers started about as well as anyone could have hoped. If that could be the new normal for the Hoosiers, then they could be a truly dangerous team.

Who: Indiana (15-5) vs. Maryland (11-9)

When: Saturday, Jan 29th, 2:30 p.m. ET

Where: College Park, MD

TV: FOX (Brandon Gaudin and Jim Jackson)

Radio: IU Radio Network with Don Fischer, Errek Suhr and Joe Smith

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QUICK HITTERS

• Indiana is 7-8 all-time against Maryland

• Indiana won its sole matchup with Maryland last season 63-55.

• Maryland has the worst assist-to-turnover ratio in the Big Ten (0.96)

• Maryland fouls more than any other team in Big Ten games (14.9)

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