BLOOMINGTON -- Making halftime adjustments in college basketball is similar to a cat-and-mouse game, and Sunday marked the second consecutive that Indiana played the role of the mouse.
Though it collapsed in the game’s closing seconds, Indiana’s fate in the 79-78 heartbreaker was in largely due to Maryland’s three-point barrage in the second half.
Maryland’s eight second-half 3-pointers in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon were strikingly similar to Northwestern’s nine on Wednesday night in Evanston. Indiana has now allowed a combined 17 made 3-pointers in the second half, as Maryland and Northwestern have combined to shoot 55% from beyond the arc against Indiana in the final 20 minutes.
"We've just got to get better in that area and guard the three ball," Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. "Early on, we were pretty good in that area, and we had some slippage there as well."
Trailing by a point to start the second half, Indiana snoozed through the first 10-plus minutes, and Maryland guard Rodney Rice hit a kill-shot triple to place the Hoosiers in a double-digit hole.
A vast majority of Maryland’s dozen three-pointers made were a result of miscommunication on Indiana's part.
"A couple times we lost guys, but there were a few times that we were right there," Woodson said "Obviously you're not close enough if guys can just turn and shoot in your face and make them."
It was evident at various moments during the second half that the five Indiana players on the floor were disconnected from one another.
"It's just important for us to get back and get matched up no matter what the matchup is. Just find a man and be able to take that away." Indiana redshirt sophomore Myles Rice said. "They hit some tough shots tonight, but some of them were wide-open looks as well. That's just how the game goes sometimes."
Following Wednesday’s second-half breakdown, Woodson said he is “still trying to figure it out” why his team continuously caves in the final 20 minutes of games this season. Sunday was no different. Maryland scored 79 points, 41 of which came in the second half alone.
Overall, the Terrapins shot 50 percent from behind the line, converting on 12-of-24 attempts from deep.
Indiana bounced back out of the double-digit deficit, but its defense once again reared its ugly head in the game’s waning moments.
Up two with a foul to give with less than 20 seconds on the clock, Indiana opted to play straight-up defense out of the timeout.
“We were under the impression we were supposed to foul,” senior Anthony Leal said of the late-game situation. “Unfortunately, we didn't.”
Rodney Rice’s game-winning three was the back-breaker, but there were other plays throughout the second half that Leal believes led to Indiana’s heartbreaking defeat.
“[Rice’s three] is not the reason we lost the game. There's plays and plays that add up and lead up to that,” Leal said. “It's a long game, and there's a lot of things that add up to it.”
Although it seems far-fetched, especially after a devastating defeat, Indiana still has an attempt to turn its season around. Opportunities are plentiful, but Indiana will need to shift from being the cat to the mouse as it faces rival Purdue on the road in West Lafayette on Friday.
“Those are golden opportunities for us to get over the hump a little bit, figure it out, and just continue learning how to win.”
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