No. 5 Maryland has won its Big Ten games by an average of 22.6 points and has only lost one game in conference. The Terrapins (18-2, 7-1) lead the conference in scoring offense and defense, and their scoring margin (plus-29.8) is 13.8 points higher than any other margin in the Big Ten.
IU (13-8, 5-4) is riding a 3-game win streak, including a road victory against then-No. 20 Northwestern, and is attempting to continue its run up the conference standings as it travels to College Park, Maryland, on Saturday.
The Hoosiers enter this game boasting their best conference record through nine games since the 2008-09 season when they owned a 7-2 record.
“We’ve worked extremely hard,” IU Coach Teri Moren said after the win against Rutgers on Wednesday night. “There have been peaks and valleys. I tell the kids you can’t get caught up in the public opinion. You can’t get caught up in the standings. You just have to put your head down and continue to work and improve.”
Both teams are coming off victories against teams at the bottom of the Big Ten standings. IU beat Rutgers 64-48 Wednesday, and Maryland beat Penn State 89-53 Wednesday. Wednesday was the second time this season and the fifth time in Moren’s two years as coach that IU had kept an opponent under 50 points.
Moren said she and the players are gaining confidence on the defensive end of the floor, especially in the zone defense they used against Rutgers, holding the Scarlet Knights to just 17 points in the first half.
IU also limited Rutgers to just five offensive rebounds with that zone defense, but Maryland leads the Big Ten in that category, averaging 16.3 rebounds per game.
The Terps also lead the conference in both offensive and defensive field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and assists, while the Hoosiers do not lead any statistic.
But the Hoosiers have two consecutive wins that have been out of their nature in recent history — collecting their first Big Ten road win against a ranked opponent in five years against Northwestern and shooting under 35 percent from the field in their win against Rutgers.
Moren said the Hoosiers will be searching for another uncharacteristic win as they take on their second consecutive ranked team on the road — a team in the top-five at that.
“We’re happy with this win tonight,” Moren said concerning Rutgers. “But tomorrow begins our prep for Maryland, and that’s our next most important game. Then we’ll go from there.”
