Indiana’s late game execution fails in 79-78 loss to Maryland

As the final buzzer sounded, Indiana senior forward Luke Goode stood underneath the basket with his arms out as to shrug, completely dumbfounded by what had just transpired. He looked in awe, then appeared to mutter, “What the f—.”

After the Hoosiers took a 78-74 lead with 38 seconds remaining against Maryland on Sunday, the Terrapins responded with a bucket and a late 3-pointer to take the lead with seven seconds left. Indiana called timeout and a flurry of substitutions left IU confused about who was supposed to be in the game and ultimately led to a contested corner jumper that hit nothing but air.

The result was disappointing. Although the Hoosiers played well in one of their more consistent outings of the season, they still came up short.

Postgame, Indiana coach Mike Woodson failed to take much accountability for the disastrous final play when fans booed as Anthony Leal was substituted out after a brilliant stretch. Confusion was abundant.

“They went to zone, and when we went underneath out of bounds, we had a play for Myles (Rice) to come off because we knew they would switch to big, and he didn’t,” Woodson said. “Myles didn’t come off, and he stayed there in the corner, and we didn’t get much out of it.”

Meanwhile, Rice took ownership of not performing his role adequately postgame.

“That’s on me as the point guard,” Rice said. “No matter what lineup we’re in, we have to make sure we all know what we’re doing, and I’ll take some of the heat on that.”

The road to a wild Sunday afternoon finish was tight from the start. In a first half filled with strong offensive outputs from Goode, Oumar Ballo and Mackenzie Mgbako, the Hoosiers struggled to keep up with Maryland’s backcourt defensively. Still, neither team led by more than five points and IU trailed 38-37 at the half.

Indiana emerged from the locker room sluggish and the Terrapins pounced. Their fifth 3-pointer of the frame at the 9:34 mark gave Maryland its only double-digit lead and a disgruntled wave swept over Assembly Hall.

For most of this season, Indiana has accepted defeat in that situation. Sunday, however, was a different story.

Rice came alive, knocking down a pair of triples and reinvigorating the crowd. He pushed the pace and found his shot and pulled the strings for the Hoosiers. Indiana’s offense was humming and the momentum shifted.

IU was working inside out and scoring at will. Its defense became more engaged and a tremendous stop by Anthony Leal forced a turnover and fast-break opportunity. Rice and Leal perfectly executed a give-and-go, which Leal converted plus a foul to tie the game at 70 with 4:42 left.

The Hoosiers led by as many as five, but their offense briefly stalled, and Maryland chipped at the deficit. Leading by just one, Leal corralled a loose ball at the rim and converted another and-1 to push the lead to 78-74 with 38 seconds left.

Then, the collapse commenced.

After a Terrapins bucket, Trey Galloway was fouled with 22 seconds but missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving Maryland a chance. It took advantage, turning a scrambled play into a 3-pointer from Rodney Rice to take a 79-78 lead.

“We just didn’t get a key stop with a foul to give,” Woodson said. “The ball scrambled out. The initial thrust of their offense, I thought we played it well.”

Rice received the inbound and charged ahead with seven seconds, but Woodson opted to call timeout on the sideline instead of allowing his players to come up with a score. Hindsight is 20/20, but it was the wrong decision.

In the sequence, Maryland deflected the first inbound out of bounds on the baseline. Then, Goode and Mgbako substituted in for Leal and Ballo after confusion and discussion on the bench.

The final play was ugly. Two Hoosiers stood in the corner on the ball side and after seconds of hardly any movement the ball was forced into Rice, who had nowhere to go and threw up a shot that never had a chance. The ball was tipped away and the buzzer sounded.

It’s hard to ever pinpoint one play that determines a game’s outcome, but Sunday was as close as it gets. Woodson, however, thought IU blew several chances in the final minute.

“You’ve got to make plays down the stretch, and I got to get them to understand that,” he said. “It was just the little things we didn’t execute.”

The game’s final five minutes entailed cautious optimism from Indiana fans, with more and more excitement built up before sudden failure led to disappointment. It mirrors the trajectory of IU’s season, dating back to preseason expectations to be contenders in the Big Ten.

At this point, there are several reasons why the Hoosiers have underperformed in various results: lack of preparation or effort, poor coaching, defensive deficiencies, inconsistent play overall, etc. However, the question remains as to why IU cannot identify the source and address it.

Hope isn’t entirely lost, but the candle has maybe an inch of wax remaining and is burning more rapidly than ever. With a daunting schedule still ahead, all the Hoosiers can do is hope something clicks and turns things around.

“We’ve got 10 games left,” Leal said. “Our next four are against really, really good teams that, if we’re able to string some wins together, it changes the whole trajectory of our season.”

Category: Media

Filed to: Maryland Terrapins