Monday Big Ten Preview: Maryland Travels To Indiana

There’s one game tonight with Maryland set to face Indiana in Bloomington on BTN.

Game of the Night

Maryland Terrapins at Indiana Hoosiers

• Time/TV: 8:00 PM ET (BTN)

In the lone game tonight the Terps travel to Bloomington to face the Hoosiers. Both teams come into tonight with 6-4 records, with Maryland currently 1-3 in conference play and Indiana just ahead at 1-2. Long story short, this game is one both Maryland and Indiana need to win.

The Terps picked up a big road win recently against Wisconsin but couldn’t keep up the momentum last time out in a 11 point loss at home to Michigan. To further complicate things for the Terrapins they’ll be playing without Darryl Morsell after he underwent surgery to repair a fractured bone in his face. The senior guard has been averaging 7.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in a starting role.

On the other side the Hoosiers ended a two game losing streak by finding a way to hold on against Penn State in overtime. Indiana had a spurt in the second half where they were able to build a double digit lead on several threes in quick succession, but couldn’t put away the Nittany Lions until the very end of overtime. Like usual Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers in scoring, but Indiana got plenty of production from their backcourt. That was key in picking up the win as the Hoosiers have had production issues away from Jackson-Davis and Franklin this season.

That’s more or less been the issue with Indiana most of the year. Jackson-Davis is a legit star but there hasn’t been enough consistency shooting the ball from outside. Armaan Franklin has stepped up this year, hitting 47.6% from three, but no other starter is hitting better than 33.3% from three. Indiana has struggled from three (34.5%) and the free throw line (67.6%) and their inability to shoot the ball has caused problems throughout the year. The Terrapins also struggle shooting from the line, converting on only 69.5% of their attempts.

Both Maryland and Indiana have shown flashes that they can compete with anyone in the conference. They also have pretty notable flaws that explain why they’re most likely going to end up in the middle of the pack this year in the Big Ten. Indiana has been doing just enough to get by and with this game taking place at Assembly Hall that should be enough. Even more so as Maryland will be without Morsell tonight.

Pick: Indiana