Opponent: No. 22 Indiana Hoosiers (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten)
Location: Xfinity Center, College Park, Maryland
Tipoff: 7:00 p.m., Friday, Jan. 11
Last matchup: Jan. 22, 2018 in Bloomington — Indiana 71, Maryland 68
Last game: Maryland beat Minnesota 82-67 on Tuesday, Indiana lost to No. 2 Michigan 74-63 on Sunday
Odds: Maryland -5, per OddsShark
Kenpom prediction: Maryland wins, 74-69
TV: FS1 — Tim Brando (play-by-play) and Donnie Marshall (analyst)
Streaming: FoxSportsGO
Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network (105.7 FM Baltimore, 980 AM D.C.) — Johnny Holliday (play-by-play), Chris Knoche (analyst) and Walt Williams (analyst)
What to watch for Maryland: Building on the second half against Minnesota
In Tuesday’s game at Minnesota, Maryland struggled in the first half against a good Golden Gophers team. Jordan Murphy and Amir Coffey were playing very well in the paint and Minnesota was distributing the ball well, going up by six at halftime. Maryland shot just 40 percent from the field and didn’t make a three-point shot.
In the second half, however, the Terps shot just under 70 percent from the field and six of seven from three, outscoring the Gophers 48-27 in the half to win by 15. Something just clicked at halftime and Turgeon said something to the team that just made them come out hot and they never let up the gas pedal, thanks to a combination of a zone defense and excellent shooting. It will be interesting to see if Maryland can carry that momentum swing into Friday’s game against a good Indiana team who is leading the Big Ten in field goal percentage, shooting 51.9 percent from the field as a team. If the Terps play like they did in the second half against Minnesota, Indiana will be in for a long night.
What to watch for Indiana: Charity stripe struggles
While Maryland has had its early struggles when it comes to free throws, it’s the Hoosiers who are really struggling. Indiana is shooting 65 percent from the line as a team, second-worst in the Big Ten behind Rutgers and 308th in the country.
Indiana’s three best scorers, Romeo Langford, Juwan Morgan and Justin Smith, are shooting a combined 66.5 percent from the line, which just doesn’t cut it in close games. Maryland was able to beat Nebraska after the Cornhuskers missed eight free throws, so we’ve already seen what can happen when a ranked team struggles from the line at Xfinity Center.