It could have been a different game when comparing the first and second half.
As junior guard Devonte Green knocked down all three of his free throws, No. 22 IU held a 14-2 lead over Maryland less than five minutes into the game Jan. 11 in College Park. The Hoosiers were a perfect 5-5 from the field, and every starting player except for freshman guard Romeo Langford had scored a basket.
After a near-perfect start to the game, the Hoosiers had a complete opposite offensive performance to start the second half that ultimately allowed the Terrapins to take a lead they’d never relinquish and win 78-75.
With a little over seven minutes remaining in the first half, IU held its largest lead at 28-14 after Langford made his way into the paint, went past one defender, then finished between two more for the and-one layup.
As soon as Langford converted on the play, Maryland went on a 13-4 run to make it a five-point game until a three-pointer with 29 seconds left from sophomore guard Al Durham gave IU an eight-point cushion heading into halftime.
IU played a majority of the final minutes of the first half without senior forward Juwan Morgan due to a pair of fouls, but he scored the first basket of the second half to give IU back the double-digit lead.
That’s until the Hoosiers missed all nine of their next shots to go scoreless for over five minutes. The offensive drought opened the door for Maryland to go on a 16-0 run and take a six-point lead.
All nine of the missed shots from IU were either mid-range jump shots or three-pointers. It wasn’t until Morgan slammed home a dunk with 14:19 remaining that the Hoosiers got out of the shooting slump.
Maryland outscored IU 23-9 in the first nine and a half minutes of the second half, plus sophomore forward Justin Smith picked up his fourth foul with 14 minutes remaining.
Green led all scorers with 10 points at halftime but didn’t make a single field goal in the second half until a buzzer-beating three-pointer with one second left in the game.
Despite Langford almost single handedly bringing IU back at the end of the game to have any chance at pulling out the victory, the poor shooting to start the second half was too much to overcome.
