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1/31 Big Ten Recap: Maryland Beats Indiana

Recap all the Big Ten action from Tuesday.

NCAA Basketball: Indiana at Maryland Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten had three intriguing games on the slate on Tuesday, highlighted by a matchup between Indiana and Maryland. All three games ended up being pretty competitive.

Let’s take a look at what happened.

Game of the Night:

-Maryland Terrapins 66, No. 21 Indiana Hoosiers 55

This was easily the Game of the Night on Tuesday and for good reason. Both Maryland and Indiana entered this game with plenty of momentum and were hoping to capitalize on a major opportunity to propel themselves in the league standings. In the race to finish behind Purdue in the league standings, this could easily have been one of the most important remaining games of the season.

The game itself proved to be competitive. Maryland pulled away by halftime, but Indiana did more than enough to keep things within shouting distance. However, Maryland’s defense proved to be too much as the Terps held Indiana to 0.89 points per possession. Jahmir Young led the way for Maryland with 20 points and six rebounds. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 18 points, but nobody else did much for the Hoosiers.

Maryland improved to 15-7 overall and 6-5 in Big Ten play with the win. The team has now won three straight, four of the team’s last five games, and six of its last seven dating back to a matchup with Ohio State in early January. There’s still a long way to go, but the Terps are now just a game out of second place in the Big Ten standings with a manageable closing slate. If Maryland can pull off an upset or two, there’s a lot on the table there, which has to thrill fans after underwhelming preseason expectations. Maryland will hope to keep things rolling on the road against Minnesota on Saturday.

On the other side, Indiana fell to 15-7 overall and 6-5 in Big Ten play with the loss. Indiana’s five-game winning streak snapped with the loss to Maryland on Tuesday night, as many of the team’s offensive problems from earlier in the season resurfaced. Obviously, that’s not encouraging with Indiana preparing to host arch-rival Purdue on Saturday.

The Rest:

-Illinois Fighting Illini 72, Nebraska Cornhuskers 56

This looked like a mismatch on paper and generally played out that way. Nebraska kept things close in the first half, but couldn’t hang with the Illini as the game got deeper and ended up falling by double-digits. Matthew Mayer led the way, finishing with 16 points and six rebounds. Coleman Hawkins also had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Illinois improved to 16-6 overall and 7-4 in Big Ten play with the win while Nebraska fell to 10-13 overall and 3-9 in Big Ten play. Illinois will hope to build on this win with Iowa on the road on Saturday. The Huskers will hope to rebound at home against Penn State on Sunday.

-Iowa Hawkeyes 86, Northwestern Wildcats 70

This was a competitive game in the first half, but got away from teh Wildcats in the second as five Hawkeyes scored in double-figures and Iowa finished with a blistering 1.3 points per possession. Payton Sandfort led the way with 20 points and five assists. Filip Rebraca also had a double-double and finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Iowa improved to 14-8 overall and 6-5 in Big Ten play with the win while Northwestern fell to 15-6 overall and 6-4 in Big Ten play with the loss. The Hawkeyes will hope to keep things rolling on Saturday with Illinois at home. The Wildcats will try and bounce back against Michigan at home on Tuesday.