Maryland men’s basketball drops Big Ten opener to Indiana, 65-53

Maryland men’s basketball found itself in a familiar situation Friday night against Indiana — on the road and in a deep hole early. 

A visibly frustrated Kevin Willard could be seen drilling into his players on the sideline during an early timeout. That frustration was echoed by his players. Following a possession where Indiana outmuscled the Terps for three consecutive offensive rebounds, Julian Reese chewed out teammate Donta Scott for failing to box out.

Maryland (4-4, 0-1) was never able to climb out that early hole, falling to Indiana (6-1, 1-0), 65-53, in its Big Ten opener at Assembly Hall.

Indiana held the second-lowest 3-point percentage of any power conference team in the country through its first seven games. Its two big men – 7-footer Kel’el Ware and 6-foot-9 forward Malik Reneau – each buried triples in the first five minutes to give the Hoosiers an early 16-4 lead.

Despite the nightmarish start, Maryland seemed to find a bit of a rhythm in the middle of the first half. The Terps cut the deficit to seven points four different times, but couldn’t get out of their own way when they had a chance to draw closer. 

“I don’t mind a freshman going out there and missing and [making mistakes],” Willard said. “We’ve got some older guys right now that are just doing stuff that you’re like, ‘What are we doing? Like, you can’t do that’ … if that’s the way it’s going to be, I’m going to make some major changes.”

Maryland had 12 turnovers and several players battled foul trouble throughout the game, including Reese. The junior forward picked up his fourth with 13:36 remaining in the game when he slapped Ware’s arm reaching for the ball on an entry pass.

Ware, a former five-star prospect, has broken out with the Hoosiers this year after transferring in from Oregon, where he was unable to live up to his billing as a freshman. He gave the Terps all sorts of problems on Friday, finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Ware showed off a healthy diet of moves inside, and his size and length affected Reese on the other end, especially early on. When Maryland went on a 6-0 run late in the first half, the Hoosiers went to Ware to calm the storm. He sunk a hook shot over Reese and drew a foul, converting the and-one on the other side of the timeout.

“Their length and size – we haven’t seen that,” Willard said. “When you go up against it for the first time, that kind of rattles you a little bit.”

Indiana ended the first half on a 9-4 run to extend its lead back to 12 at the break.

The Hoosiers really opened things up in the second half. After Jahmir Young knocked down a mid-range jumper on Maryland’s first possession, the Hoosiers went on a 12-1 run to put the game out of reach.

Seven straight points from DeShawn Harris-Smith helped trim the deficit back to a dozen with five minutes remaining, but it proved to be too little, too late for the Terps.

Maryland had an opportunity to get within single digits after Jordan Geronimo forced a steal, but Harris-Smith’s 3-point attempt hit the back of the rim. The Terps’ hope of a comeback went from slim to none.

Willard went with Jamie Kaiser Jr. over Scott with the rest of the starting lineup down the stretch.

“That last unit … I thought [their] defensive energy was great,” Willard said. “That’s the defensive energy we need to start the game on the road.”

Geronimo gave Maryland a spark over the homestand, averaging 14.5 points over the last two games, but was held scoreless in his return to Bloomington, where he spent his first three collegiate seasons. Young (20 points) and Reese (14 points, eight rebounds), got very little help from their supporting cast on Friday.

As it has been all season, 3-point shooting was a glaring issue. After the Terps shot a season-high 40 percent from beyond the arc in their win over Rider on Tuesday, they shot a season-low 13 percent (2-of-16) from 3-point range on Friday.

It’s no secret that Maryland has been a completely different team on the road under Willard. The Terps were 1-9 on the road in Big Ten play last season and are 0-4 away from the Xfinity Center this season. 

The disastrous start wasn’t anything new, either — Maryland trailed 17-3 six minutes into the game at Villanova. A team that shoots the 3-pointer so poorly is not likely to shoot themselves out of a big deficit. The Terps will have to get off to better starts to give themselves any hope at curing the road bugs that have infected them during Willard’s tenure.

Maryland returns to College Park on Wednesday to host Penn State in the latter of their two early-season Big Ten games.