An enticing Big Ten battle will commence this Friday night, as a sizzling Maryland squad will host nationally ranked Indiana.
TV schedule: Friday, January 11, 7:00 pm ET. FS1.
Arena: XFINITY Center in College Park, Md.
Two talented Big Ten teams are nearly set to collide, with each program looking to avoid a second conference loss and keep pace in the league race.
Maryland (13-3, 4-1), which has captured four-straight contests, will welcome No. 22 Indiana (12-3, 3-1) to the XFINITY Center on Friday evening in a heavyweight encounter.
Buoyed by 27 points from junior guard Anthony Cowan Jr., the Terrapins scored a decisive 82-67 triumph at Minnesota this past Tuesday. Freshman forward Jalen Smith also made his mark, contributing a career-high 21 points.
The Hoosiers, meanwhile, saw their seven-affair success streak snapped last Sunday afternoon, as No. 2 Michigan came away with a 74-63 home conquest of Indiana.
Both Maryland and the Hoosiers are sandwiched together with several other crews possessing one setback so far in the Big Ten standings, with all of them trailing the aforementioned Wolverines as well as No. 6 Michigan State.
Indiana has a solid resume at this juncture, with its three defeats coming on the road to Arkansas by one point, to then-No. 3 Duke, and to Michigan. Conversely, the Hoosiers have notched strong home victories over Marquette and Louisville, as well as a neutral-court win against Butler.
The Terps, on the other hand, recently squeaked by then-No. 24 Nebraska in College Park, which probably represents their most-impressive result to date in the 2018-19 campaign, save for their dismantling of the Golden Gophers on Tuesday.
Each of Maryland’s three losses proved extremely close, as the Terrapins fell at home by five points to highly rated Virginia and by four points to Seton Hall, along with a heart-breaking two-point setback at Purdue.
Besides staying within striking distance of the Big Ten’s top spot, a conquering of the other foe will surely enhance the NCAA NET ranking for whichever party prevails. Presently, Maryland is slotted at 26th, while Indiana checks in at 15th.
The Terps and the Hoosiers are nearly identical in a bunch of statistical categories. They both generate 77.5 points a game, with Indiana allowing one fewer point on defense. Maryland holds slight advantages in rebounding and blocks, with the Hoosiers claiming small edges in assists and steals.
Cowan highlights a balanced Terrapins roster that features six guys who average eight or more points every time out. Indiana, too, spreads it around. Freshman guard Romeo Langford, at 18.2 points per contest, leads the charge, but the Hoosiers have five other players who produce a minimum of seven points.
ESPN.com’s match-up predictor projects that Maryland has a 66.6 percent chance of emerging victorious, which makes sense because the Terps are on their own turf. However, I view this as a see-saw duel until the final buzzer sounds. Maryland will do just enough to best Indiana, likely propelling the Terrapins into next week’s AP top-25 poll.
Prediction: Maryland 80 – Indiana 77