Maryland 78 Indiana 75: Three Keys | Final Box Score | Specialty Stats

Familiar faces returned to the IU lineup, but the story on the road remained the same.

The rigors of Big Ten play are here.

Indiana seemed to get an early boost from the return of freshman point guard Rob Phinisee and junior big man De’Ron Davis, but that energy quickly dissipated and IU fell to 1-4 in true road games.

Indiana finds itself on its first losing streak of the season as the Hoosiers gave away an early lead at Maryland on Friday night. Despite a 28 point game from freshman Romeo Langford, the Hoosiers could never recover after falling behind early in the second half.

Indiana (12-4, 3-2) returns to action on Monday night against Nebraska at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

See also: Archie Miller post game.

THREE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. So much for the fast start. Indiana finally bucked the trend. All season we have been longing for better starts to games. The Hoosiers got off to a hot start in this one, leading 28-14 with five minutes left in the first half. From there IU seemed to revert to their normal early game form, playing on their heels and getting out-hustled. From that 14 point first half lead, Maryland outscored the Hoosiers 64-47 the rest of the way.

2. Maryland dominates the glass. The Terrapins came into this game with the reputation as a strong rebounding team, and they more than lived up to it. Maryland outworked the Hoosiers all night, securing a 42-25 overall rebounding margin, and an 18-3 advantage on the offensive end. The offensive rebounds led to just nine second chance points, but gave Maryland several more possessions than IU and may have wore Indiana out.

3. Indiana’s second half defense was bad. That’s an understatement. Maryland scored 51 points, shooting 50% from the field. While those offensive rebounds didn’t lead to points in the first half, Maryland got all nine second chance points in second half. Maryland answered IU’s effective first half half court defense by getting point guard Anthony Cowan working downhill before the Hoosiers could get set up. That led to a lot of open looks as the Hoosiers failed to get into position.