COLLEGE PARK, Md. - For Indiana's penultimate road game of the 2023-24 regular season, the Hoosiers travel to the east coast for a dual with the Maryland Terrapins to open up the month of March.
Indiana (15-13 overall, 7-10 in Big Ten play) capped off a porous February with a win at home last Tuesday versus a sliding Wisconsin squad. The Hoosiers' win over the Badgers marked one of the few bright spots in a month Indiana will likely soon want to forget. Indiana went 2-5 overall in the month of February, including a stretch of four consecutive losses bookended by a road win over Ohio State and the home win over Wisconsin. Heading into March and the matchup with the Terrapins, the Hoosiers need just one more win to ensure a record of .500 or better come the end of the season.
Maryland (15-14 overall, 7-11 in Big Ten play) had an equally poor month of February. The Terrapins went 2-6 throughout the month, going 1-4 at home inside the Xfinity Center in College Park. The Terrapins are just a week removed from a 17-point road win in New Jersey over Rutgers. Maryland followed up one of the best performances of the season against Rutgers with a poor performance at home in a loss to Northwestern. That's how most of this season has gone for the Terrapins. It's often seemed like Maryland has taken one step forward and then two steps backwards.
Prior to tipoff, take a quick, refreshed look at the Maryland Terrapins.
Quick Hitters
Who?: Indiana (15-13, 7-10 in Big Ten play) at Maryland (15-14, 7-11 in Big Ten play)
Series History: Indiana leads, 13-9 (Last Meeting: IU 65, Maryland 53 on 12/21/23 in Bloomington)
When?: Sunday, March 3rd, 2 p.m. ET
Where?: Xfinity Center, College Park, Maryland
TV: CBS: Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Dan Bonner (color)
Radio: IU Radio Network, Don Fischer (play-by-play), Errek Suhr (analyst), John Herrick
Vegas: Indiana -8.5, o/u 135.5
Last Meeting
Since then...
Back in December, Indiana and Maryland met to open up Big Ten play. It was the Hoosiers that got the win in that matchup behind good performances from a handful of starters.
Since that game, Indiana has gone 6-10 in Big Ten play. Meanwhile, Maryland has managed a 7-10 record within the conference since these two teams last met on the hardwood.
Maryland has struggled on the offensive end of the floor this season. The Terrapins bring the 163rd ranked adjusted offensive efficiency into Sunday's meeting with the Hoosiers per Kenpom. Those struggles offensively can mostly be attributes to the Maryland's slow adjusted tempo, which ranks 311th in the country.
The Terrapins rank 326th in the country in effective field goal percentage according to barttorvik.com. Similarly, Maryland ranks near the bottom of the country in 3-point percentage, hitting shots from distance at a 28.2% clip this season.
Where Maryland hasn't struggled is on the other side of the ball, defensively. The Terrapins ranked fifth in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency according to Kenpom.
Defensively, there isn't much Maryland isn't good at. According to Bart Torvik, the Terrapins ranks inside the top 15 in effective field goal percentage defense (9th), 2-point percentage defense (13th) and 3-point rate defense (9th). Put simply, Maryland's opponents typically don't shoot the ball all too well, especially inside the point line. Additionally, Maryland doesn't allow teams to shoot a ton of 3-pointers.
Storylines to monitor...
Can Indiana close out the regular season strong, despite not playing for anything tangible?
At this point, with how things have shaken out this season for Indiana, the Hoosiers are well off the NCAA Tournament bubble. Indiana's hopes of a third consecutive NCAA Tournament birth rests on the shoulders of winning the Big Ten Tournament, something the Hoosiers have never done.
That doesn't mean Indiana has nothing to play for. You'd expect at least a handful of guys on the Hoosiers' current roster to return next season and these final games are still important for development not only individually, but as a team.
For example, Gabe Cupps has been thrown into the fire his freshman season with Indiana. Can he show some intriguing signs of growth and development down the stretch of the regular season that he may be able to carry over into his sophomore campaign?
Malik Reneau appears to have fallen back into his foul-happy ways from his freshman season. Can he iron out those issues on the defensive end of the floor before his junior season next year?
Maybe Mackenzie Mgbako gets some opportunity to play the 4 position a little bit more often as the regular season comes to a close. Maybe he can show something in those minutes that could carry over to next season.
All that's to say that Indiana still has a ton to play for. At this stage of the season, with your chances of making the NCAA Tournament all-but-gone, the Hoosiers have to play for their pride.
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