Behind the great play of Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana got its second-straight Big Ten win with a 63-55 victory over Maryland.
The first half was a dismal one for the Hoosiers. They held the Terrapins to just 27 points, but only matched that with 21 points of their own. It was the worst offensive performance they have had since their game earlier this season against Texas. Indiana missed all of their nine three-point attempts through the first 20 minutes of action and shot just 9-of-30 from the floor.
The Hoosiers also suffered an injury to Armaan Franklin early in the first half. Franklin attempted to make a dribble move in transition and went down grabbing his ankle. The Hoosiers have yet to announce his diagnosis or probability to play, but Franklin didn't appear for the remainder of the game.
Even though they struggled mightily to start the game, the Hoosiers showed mental fortitude in the second half as they dug themselves out of a hole. They showed much more energy and righted most of their wrongs via two separate runs, including a big 13-2 run midway through the half.
Trayce Jackson-Davis was a huge part of Indiana’s offensive resurgence in the second half. He recovered from one of his worst halves of college basketball by playing perhaps his best half of college basketball. He had five points (2-9 shooting) with six rebounds in the first and 17 points (7-of-9 shooting) with nine boards in the second. For the game, he finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds.
For all the things to nitpick about this game, the Hoosiers walked off the court having played perhaps their best basketball of the season. They got back to what they do well: feeding Jackson-Davis the ball, rebounding, and playing stifling defense. Maryland was out-rebounded 23-14 in the second half and outscored 42-28. Indiana finished with a 43-33 advantage on the glass overall for the game.
Race Thompson added 13 points and 11 rebounds while Al Durham chipped in 13 points as well.
Maryland was paced by Aaron Wiggins, finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
This game gives Archie Miller’s team the kind of momentum they need as they prepare to face an absolute onslaught of Big Ten opponents in the coming months. It is clear this team feeds off of energy and emotion, and they need to keep the same attitude in every game moving forward.
The Hoosiers will be in action Thursday against a No. 8 ranked Wisconsin team, who fell to Maryland just a week ago.
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