Indiana vs. Maryland Preview
The Maryland men's basketball team is back in action on Wednesday night, when they welcome the Indiana Hoosiers (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) to Xfinity Center, looking to gain its first Big Ten win of the season.
It's been a tough stretch of basketball for the Terps (7-7, 0-3) lately, losers in four of their past five contests. They need to find consistency on the court to right the ship, and they'll continue to have to navigate that without arguably their best player, forward Pharrel Payne, who's out with a leg injury he sustained back on Dec. 14th against Michigan.
Let's dive into the opponent and upcoming matchup....
Game Details:
When: Wednesday, January 7th
Where: Xfinity Center at College Park, Maryland
Tipoff: 6:30 p.m.
How to watch: Big Ten Network
Indiana Key Stats:
Record: 11-3 (2-1 Big Ten)
Head Coach: Darian DeVries
Leading Scorer: Lamar Wilkerson- 19.2 points per game
Leading Rebounder: Sam Alexis- 5.4 rebounds per game
Leader in Assists: Conor Enright- 4.9 assists per game
Team Points Per Game: 85.1 (T59th in the country)
Team Field Goal %: 48.7 (T52nd in the country)
Team Free Throw %: 77.4 (T25th in the country)
Offensive Rating: 124.5 (T32nd in the country)
Defensive Rating: 98.1 (T49th in the country)
Players To Watch
Indiana Guard- Lamar Wilkerson
Wilkerson is one of the top scorers in the conference, nearly averaging 20 points per contest. He has a prolific jump shot from the outside, and he also uses off-the-dribble moves well to set up tough baskets for himself inside the rack and to find his teammates for easy buckets.
Maryland Forward- Solomon Washington
Washington has stepped up big time for head coach Buzz Williams ever since making his season debut earlier in December. As mentioned before, with Payne absent, the Terps have needed someone to step up and bring a physical presence on the inside. In the past three contests, Washington has grabbed at least 12 rebounds, averaging about 5.3 offensive rebounds, and a block. He's coming off his second-straight double-double performance against Oregon on Friday night (17 points & 12 rebounds).
History vs. Indiana
This will be the 25th meeting between the two Big Ten teams; Indiana leads the all-time series 14-10. Maryland won last year's meeting on the road against Indiana by one point. Former Terp Rodney Rice hit the eventual game-winning 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds left.
The Terps' last home victory over Indiana came in the 2022-23 season.
Bottom Line
This will be a tough matchup for the Terps against a well-coached, effective team on both sides of the ball. The Hoosiers have forwards that are lengthy and tall in size, something that the Terps' guards must be aware of when attacking the basket. Maryland must get production from its backcourt out of guys such as Myles Rice, David Coit, Darius Adams, and Isaiah Watts. Controlling the glass will be key to getting out in transition and getting easy baskets for an offense that has been struggling.
More from Maryland On SI
Stay up to date with the Terrapins by bookmarking Maryland On SI
Jaden's sports journalism career began at the College of Southern Maryland from 2022-2023, where he was brought in to cover baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball at CSM. In late 2023, he began interning at the University of Maryland Athletics Department as a contributing writer to help develop feature stories and game recaps. He also creates his own sports media content on professional Washington teams with LegacyMaker Sports Network.