No. 6-seed Maryland men’s basketball (21-12) scrambled inside, trying to put a body on Trayce Jackson-Davis with a little over ten minutes to go in the game.
But the All-Big Ten first team member just took over, going on a 7-0 run by himself by just pounding the ball in the paint.
He finished the game with 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, as the Hoosiers outscored the Terps in the paint by eight to capitalize on Maryland’s poor second half start. No. 3-seed Indiana (22-10) won 70-60, knocking the No. 6-seed Terps out of the Big Ten Tournament in the quarterfinals.
It was truly a tale of two halfs, as Maryland entered the break up two and shot 6-13 from three. But the second half was a whole different story, shooting 25% from the field and 27% from three.
“I think overall in the first half our ball movement was pretty good,” senior guard Hakim Hart said. “Everybody’s spaced and it was getting us shots. I think in the second half we were just missing the shots.”
Jackson-Davis wasn’t just scoring inside, he was a nightmare for Maryland’s bigs defensively, putting them into foul trouble. Graduate senior forward Patrick Emilien fouled out of the game, and sophomore forward Julian Reese played with four fouls for nearly the whole second half.
“Trayce just dominated inside,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said.
Indiana freshman guard and projected first round NBA Draft pick Jalen Hood-Schifino had just three points when the Terps and the Hoosiers last met, but that wasn’t the case Friday night. The offense ran through him all night, and he finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds on 8-15 shooting. He was a problem when driving off of ball screens, consistently getting to his spot all night.
“The three he made at the end of the shot clock, he’s a pro,” coach Kevin Willard said. “That’s what pros do. Pros make big-time shots.”
In the loss, Hart had 16 points and four assists, while senior guard Don Carey had 11 points on 50% shooting from the field. Graduate student guard Jahmir Young, the Terps’ leading scorer, went just 3-15 from the field and couldn’t produce much offense in the second half when Maryland needed it.
Maryland came out of the gate a little slow, going 2-6 to start, which benefited the Hoosiers. A couple early fastbreak buckets including a layup from graduate student forward Miller Kopp had Indiana up 11-5 with over 15 minutes to go in the first half.
But the Terps didn’t roll over, and started to find good looks by moving the ball and began to score as a result. Reese and senior forward Donta Scott backed down the Hoosier bigs in the paint a few times, and a Carey triple from the wing gave Maryland its first lead of the game, 18-17 with 10:28 remaining.
This sparked an 11-0 run from Maryland, which extended its lead for a few minutes. The threes just kept on falling, with Carey and Young both coming up with some big shots to give Maryland a 24:17 with eight minutes left in the half. The defense did a good job during the run of slowing down Indiana’s offense and affecting Jackson-Davis in the paint, forcing him into three missed shots in the half.
But the extended lead didn’t last for long as Hood-Schifino started to get to his spots, scoring six points in the final six minutes of the first half, helping a 6-2 run which cut it to a four-point game with over two minutes to go.
Both teams went back-and-forth to the end of the half, as Emilien found himself wide open off a screen for a monster one handed flush to make it a 34-28 game. But Hood-Schifino and Jackson-Davis had two finishes in the paint, trimming Indiana’s deficit at halftime, 34-32.
Reese committed his fourth foul with 12:23 to go in the game, continuing a trend that has been following him all season. While Reese was subbed off and screaming at himself in frustration, Jackson-Davis took advantage of the lack of size and got an and-one opportunity.
Maryland started the second half on a completely different note, going 3-18 from the field and experiencing a five-minute scoring drought. Indiana capitalized on the drought, going up 11 with under ten minutes left.
The Terps found a bit of light with eight minutes to go, as a quick 5-0 run in under a minute cut the Hoosiers’ lead down to six. Carey hit his third three of the night in the corner at the shot clock buzzer, before Hart drove baseline and threw up a tough layup.
But Indiana remained in the lead the rest of the way, cruising to a victory and a semifinals matchup against No. 10-seed Penn State. Maryland will now have to wait until Sunday to find out its seed in the NCAA Tournament.
