LIVE BLOG: Follow Along As Indiana's Men's Basketball Hosts Maryland

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Welcome to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall! Indiana's men's basketball team, in the midst of four road games out of five, has the home game in the middle of the sandwich as Maryland comes calling.

Indiana is coming off a 79-70 loss to Northwestern, one in which the Hoosiers blew a six-point halftime lead. Maryland is feeling good after a 91-70 destruction of Illinois at State Farm Arena on Thursday. There's a slight asterisk with that as the Illini were missing Tomisalv Ivisic, their only stopper in the paint, and Illinois had a team-wide flu bug, but Maryland scored 62 (!) points in the paint, so the Terrapins took maximum advantage.

• Nothing surprising on the availability report. Both Malik Reneau and Bryson Tucker are removed entirely. Both players are warming up pregame. Jakai Newton and Gabe Cupps are out. No one of consequence is out for Maryland.

• Be interesting to see what the demeanor of the crowd is today. Be interesting to see how many fans show up. Early on, there's plenty in the west side balcony. No one in the east balcony. Students? Their section still has a lot of rows unfilled below the concourse level.

• Malik Reneau will likely start today. Makes sense given that bigs Derik Queen and Julian Reese have to be accounted for.

• On our Hoosier Roundtable podcast this week, Jack Ankony and Todd Golden (hi, that's me) talked about the two-big thing with Indiana. I think its become a bit of a cudgel used against Indiana without anyone really looking at how Reneau and Oumar Ballo play together. I'm not saying it's perfect, but I think the notion that Indiana is better (or worse) with or without two bigs on the floor is a little bit overrated. Let's just put it this way ... Indiana finds a way to be inconsistent with or without two bigs.

• Very mild rumbling of boos from the students during the pre-game introduction video when Mike Woodson appeared. One thing for older fans to remember - students today have no memory of Bob Knight's coaching days, much less when Woodson actually played for Indiana. In fact? A sizable amount of people under the age of 50 have no recollection of when Woodson suited up for the Hoosiers. I'm a tick over 50 and I don't have direct recall of it. (I recall Woodson as a NBA player, but my college basketball memories are sketchy pre-1983-ish.) So the notion he's going to get respect as a former player is dubious given more people are around who don't remember his playing days for IU than do.

• Starters: Indiana - Malik Reneau, Myles Rice, Anthony Leal, Mackenzie Mgbako and Oumar Ballo.

Maryland - Rodney Rice, Selton Miguel, Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Derik Queen and Julian Reese.

• Maryland is the umpteenth team to come to Assembly Hall this season - for men's or women's games - to wear their black uniforms. If a team has a black primary or alternate, they're bringing it to Bloomington apparently.

• Students remember that Derik Queen spurned Indiana during his recruitment. He got the loudest boos ... so far.

• Mike Woodson Boo Watch: Not as loud as it was in the last game, but still noticeable. Queen got booed louder. No argument on who got the loudest cheer ... Anthony Leal. Forgot all that, let's play some basketball.

• Indiana 11-10, 1504 1H. First to 100 wins? Indiana did a great job early on in finding easy buckets at the rim. That has since tapered off. Maryland got traction thanks to Indiana defensive miscues. Myles Rice gambled to try to force a turnover leading to a Rodney Rice 3-pointer. Indiana also lost Ja'Kobi Gillespie on an open 3 and Derik Queen on a drive to the rim.

• During the media timeout, the Indiana football team and head coach Curt Cignetti got a massive ovation from the crowd. Cignetti spoke briefly. He didn't say anyone sucked this time! He thanked everyone for their support and said "Go IU!"

• Maryland 23-19, 9:30 1H. An Indiana 6-0 run was answered by a 7-0 surge from Maryland. Indiana not getting much offensively from anyone aside from Oumar Ballo and Mackenzie Mgbako.

• Maryland 25-21, 7:35 1H. Indiana is winning points in the paint by a 16-10 margin, but Maryland is winning the battle on the boards 14-10 - half of them offensive rebounds - and it's making Indiana defend long possessions. The Terps' second chance point total isn't high (Indiana has a 6-5 edge), but defending long possessions is never good. Oumar Ballo and Mackenzie Mgbako have scored 15 of Indiana's 21 points. They need help.

• Former Hoosier Jordan Geronimo has played a bit. When he's entered the game, the older students that remember him as a Hoosier have booed a tad.

• Maryland 32-30, 3:44 1H. Indiana just can't combine the stop with a bucket needed to get any traction. Terrapins are up to 10 offensive rebounds and the second chance point total is up to 12. Maryland has been left open too often on the arc. Terps are 4 of 10 from 3-point range. Combine that with 10 offensive rebounds? No wonder Indiana is just hanging on.

• Halftime - Maryland 38, Indiana 37. Game settled into a pattern where the Hoosiers were OK when they limited the Terrapins to one shot per possession, but with 10 offensive rebounds in the first half (four of them are "team" offensive rebounds), that didn't happen often enough for the Hoosiers.

Indiana did get a third scorer to contribute as Luke Goode heated up late in the half to get to 8 points. Oumar Ballo has 10 points for Indiana. Mackenzie Mgbako has 9 points.

For Maryland, point guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie has 10 points, wing Rodney Rice also has 10 and forward Julian Reese also has 10. Derik Queen has been a factor in the sense that he needs to be accounted for, but he's 2 of 6 from the field.

• Maryland 42-37, 18:34 2H. Terps score the first four points of the second half, prompting a timeout from Mike Woodson. Maryland with a couple of buckets at the rim from Julian Reese and Derik Queen. Indiana looked unsure of itself on the one possesion it had.

• Maryland 42-37, 18:00 2H. Trey Galloway checks in for Anthony Leal. Some rumblings from the crowd when the substitution was done ... especially as it came right after Leal stripped Rodney Rice in transition. Problem is that Leal is a non-factor on the offensive end. Maryland is sagging way off of him and putting more heat on Indiana's scorers, including a double team on Oumar Ballo. Hard to play 4-on-5 on the offensive end no matter how much Leal adds to the defense.

• Maryland 45-41, 15:01 2H. Visible frustration from Malik Reneau aimed at Trey Galloway after Ja'Kobi Gillespite got a relatively open 3-pointer. Hoosiers have been able to get second chances with four offensive rebounds already in this half, but they aren't doing enough with them. Indiana is 2 of 9 from the field to start the second half.

• Maryland 57-48, 11:07 2H. Hoosiers are in trouble. Maryland maximizing Indiana mistakes, either off turnovers or otherwise, and the Terps are demonstrating a lethality with their possessions the Hoosiers have lacked. Maryland is at 1.462 PPP in the second half to Indiana's 0.917. Maryland also doing a good job of getting its break going off of Indiana's 5 of 15 shooting in the second half.

• Maryland 60-53, 9:54 2H. Replay review as Mackenzie Mgbako was called for a foul for running a Terrapins player out of bounds as Maryland tried to set its transition offense. After review, it's remains a common foul.

• Maryland 64-61, 7:48 2H. After the Hoosiers went down 10, Indiana got a huge lift from Myles Rice, who has hit a pair of 3s to get the Hoosiers back into this. Indiana has made seven of its last eight shots, but Maryland has hit seven of its last nine. Until the latter number changes, Indiana will be fighting uphill in a big way.

One thing is certain. The fans here at Assembly Hall in Indiana's corner. All of the angst about Mike Woodson goes on the backburner until there's an outcome to digest. The vast majority of Indiana fans want to see wins ... no matter who is on the sideline.

• Indiana 73-70, 3:35 2H. It's amazing what can happen when a team gets some STOPS. Maryland hasn't scored in 2:05 and Indiana has pulled in front. A Trey Galloway steal set in motion a transition opportunity that ended in Anthony Leal converting a traditional three-point play to tie it. After a Julian Reese miss in the lane, Myles Rice put Indiana in front as he was true on a 3-pointer from the right side. Indiana forced a Maryland turnover before the stoppage, so Indiana has a chance to build on its lead. Leal came out of the loose ball scrum animated in his gestures to the crowd.

It also helps that Maryland finally started to miss some of its 3-point looks too. Terps have missed their last three.

Assembly Hall is in its best voice. Loud, into the game and giving the Hoosiers a big lift. They even sang the IU Credit Union jingle.

• Indiana 75-72, 1:16 2H. Big possession upcoming. Trey Galloway threw the ball away when Indiana was trying to get to a two-possession advantage. Maryland called a timeout to set their plan.

The five on the floor for Indiana is Myles Rice, Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo. Woodson substituted Leal for a productive Mackenzie Mgbako back before the second-last media timeout. Leal has been very solid.

• Indiana 78-76, :22 2H. A lot to unpack. Maryland scored almost immediately after their earlier timeout. Indiana countered as Malik Reneau forced a shot in the lane, but Leal was there off the miss to convert the putback. He was fouled and made his free throw, but Maryland responded right away with another two. Galloway was fouled, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Indiana needs a stop.

• Maryland 79-78, :05.6 2H. In scramble mode, and after a possible travel in the lane, Maryland's Rodney Rice hits a 3-pointer to put the Terps in front. Indiana calls a timeout on its half of the floor to try to set up a game-winner.

• FINAL: Maryland 79, Indiana 78. Mass confusion on Indiana's final possession. After the ball was knocked out on the baseline with 3.9 seconds left, Indiana made a bunch of late subs, trading Luke Goode and Mackenzie Mgbako for Oumar Ballo and Anthony Leal.

The late subs - if Indiana had come of its timeout with those two on the floor, it makes more sense - seemed to discombobluate the Hoosiers. Galloway's inbounds went to the corner, where Rice could do little other than to fling up a desperation 3-point shot that was well short of the mark.

Indiana fought so hard to take the lead ... only to squander it by missing the front end of a 1-and-1, the inability to get a stop on Maryland's key possession and avoidable confusion on the final possession. The students revived the "Fire Woodson" chant when the game was over.

• Needless to say, that's a killer loss for Indiana, especially the manner in how it played out. That's a home win the Hoosiers had to have. Now? Indiana goes to Purdue and Wisconsin for two. a home game against Michigan and then a road trip to Michigan State. Indiana has to get at least one of those games, if not two, to keep themselves afloat to reach even minimal season goals.

• During his press conference, Mike Woodson mentioned that Indiana was supposed to foul on the final Maryland possession (Indiana had a foul to give) ... and didn't.

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