Hoosier Men Inch closer to NIT bid

By Nick Jenkinson\Excel H Sports

The Indiana Hoosiers beat the Maryland Terrapins 83-78 on Sunday Afternoon at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland to sweep the season series after winning in the conference opener in December at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers are 16-13 on the season and 8-10 in the Big Ten while Maryland drops to 15-15 overall and 7-12 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers travel to Minnesota on Wednesday Night at 9pm. This is Indiana’s third Big Ten Road win and the Hoosiers have won 2 in a row.

Freshman Mackenize Mgbako scored a career high 24 points to lead Indiana. Malik Reneau added 15 points, Xavier Johnson added 13 points, Trey Galloway added 12 and Kel’el Ware pulled down 15 rebounds to go with 9 points. Gabe Cupps had 5 points, Anthony Leal and Anthony Walker added 3 points apiece and CJ Gunn played but did not score. The Hoosiers finished 31-55 from the field for 56%, 7-16 from three-point range for 43% and 14-17 from the free throw line for 82%. The Hoosiers pulled down 32 rebounds, dished out 14 assists, 4 blocks, 4 steals and committed 14 turnovers. Indiana scored 30 points in the paint, 19 Bench Points and 15 points off turnovers.

Maryland was led in scoring by Jahmir Young with 22 points, Donta Scott added 15 points along with a 13-point and 11 rebounds from Julian Reese. Jahari Long added 12 points and former Hoosier Jordan Geronimo added 9 points. Maryland finished 30-62 form the field for 48%, 9-24 from three-point range and 9-10 from the free throw line for 90%. Maryland had 26 rebounds, dished out 12 assists, 8 steals, 2 blocks and committed 10 turnovers. Maryland scored 36 points in the paint, 14 points off turnovers and 7 points off the Bench.

The game featured 4 ties and 5 lead changes as the Hoosiers led for 14:21 and Maryland for 23:28. Maryland led 43-33 at halftime. The Hoosiers outscored Maryland 50-33 as the game featured several scoring runs and scoring droughts. Indiana hit 6 of their last 8 field goals while Maryland hit five of their five. The Hoosiers need to win their last two regular season games to get to .500 in conference play before the Big Ten Tournament and need a big run in the Big Ten Tournament to keep the NCAA dream alive but with 3 wins over .500 currently it looks like the Hoosiers will play in the Postseason most likely the NIT where a couple weeks ago it was looking bleak for Indiana with a 4 game losing streak and 4 games under. 500 in the Conference.