Maryland (4-3) vs. Indiana (5-1)
When: Friday, Dec. 1 at 7 PM
Where: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, IN
TV: BTN – Brandon Gaudin, LaPhonso Ellis
Radio: 105.7 FM (Baltimore), 980 AM (DC), SiriusXM channel 381
Betting: Maryland +2.5, O/U: 138
After dropping three of their first four games, Maryland basketball rebounded back in College Park with three consecutive double-digit wins to get back over .500. Now two weeks removed from being humbled by Villanova, head coach Kevin Willard has a chance to guide his team through an early season marquee matchup to get Maryland back on track. That comes in the Terps’ conference opener in Bloomington on Friday night.
“I kind of knew this is how the season was going to go, to be honest with you. I really want to take advantage of these ten days of practice,” Willard said after Tuesday’s win. “I knew we were going to struggle early. These guys have put in a great amount of work and practice and so I feel good. I don’t think we’re there yet. I think we still have a lot of work to do, but they’re trending in the right direction.”
Maryland began to show signs of encouragement against Rider, shooting 40% from three and nearly 58% from the field as the shots finally began to fall, while Julian Reese converted all but three attempts from the free-throw line.
Now comes the question of whether the Terps can replicate that success against improved competition but do so away from Xfinity after dropping to 0-3 in road or neutral games this season.
While both Indiana and Maryland enter Friday as the conference’s worst two three-point shooting teams, the Hoosiers boast three starters over 6-foot-8 led by none other than Oregon transfer and starting center Kel’el Ware.
The portal addition has become a more efficient player through the first six games, improving his scoring (from 6.6 points to 17.7), rebounds (4.1 to 8.8), assists (0.5 to 2.0), blocks (1.3 to 1.7), and field goal percentage (45.7% to 63.9%) from year one to two while scoring at least ten points in every game this season.
One storyline to watch heading into tipoff is who’s available for Indiana. Head coach Mike Woodson saw a pair of starters go down with Malik Reneau and Xavier Johnson sidelined. Reneau left Sunday’s win with what appeared to be a lower back issue, but Woodson noted on Thursday that the sophomore forward is expecting to return against Maryland. As for Johnson, there’s more pessimism about his eventual availability.
“We’re still evaluating [Xavier] to see where he is,” Woodson said. “If he can’t play, it’s the next man up. That’s how it’s always been here. Injuries are part of the game. You know, nothing you can do about it. If he can’t play, then I expect somebody else to step up and play.”
Of course, Friday will also serve as a homecoming for Maryland forward Jordan Geronimo after spending his first three seasons in Bloomington.
“Obviously I’m going back to Indiana. It’s exciting to go back, but it’s business. It’s still basketball. We gotta do what we’ve gotta do,” Geronimo said.
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