BLOOMINGTON, IND. — In his first two years at Maryland, Jake Layman might have walked away from Thursday night's 89-70 defeat at No. 23 Indiana ready to move on to the next men's basketball game.
This one lingered, and it might for another few weeks.
"Tonight was their night; that's the way it is," the junior forward said after the Terps' most lopsided loss of the season. "We're never going to forget this night right here. We see them in a couple of weeks. We're looking forward to that."
Maryland (17-3, 5-2 Big Ten Conference) has four more games before it faces Indiana (15-4, 5-1) again on Feb. 11 at Xfinity Center, starting Sunday at home against Northwestern. What happened at Assembly Hall was startling to the Terps.
Led by junior guard Yogi Ferrell — who tied a career high with seven 3-pointers (on eight attempts) in a 24-point performance — the Hoosiers tied a record for the most points scored against the Terps under Mark Turgeon in a nonovertime game. (Iona beat Maryland, 89-63, in Turgeon's first year.)
The Terps didn't play poorly on the offensive end. They hit 27 of 53 shots from the floor (51 percent) and 10 of 20 3-pointers, their highest percentage in both categories in Big Ten play. Yet Maryland struggled in two areas at which the team normally succeeds: free-throw shooting and field-goal defense.
A team that has been near the top of the national rankings in free throws made and attempted struggled to get to the line despite having a distinct height advantage. Coming in having shot 75.5 percent from the line, Maryland missed four of its first five and shot six of 12 for the game.
Having held their Big Ten opponents to 38 percent shooting overall (behind only Nebraska in the conference) and to 24.8 percent shooting on 3-pointers (best in the league), the Terps allowed the Hoosiers to make 30 of 50 from the field (including 18 of 25 in the second half) and 15 of 22 3-pointers.
"They made great shots," Turgeon said. "[Collin] Hartman hits three [3-pointers] in the first half, which kind of got them going. ... I knew what we were getting into, but I thought we would guard a little better."
Said senior forward Evan Smotrycz: "I think we're a good defensive team. I think they could have beaten anybody tonight."
Ferrell, who dominated Maryland freshman Melo Trimble (10 points, one assist, two turnovers in 32 minutes) wasn't the only Hoosier to get hot. James Blackmon Jr., in competition with Trimble and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell for top newcomer in the Big Ten, scored 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting.
As the game — and ultimately the rout — went on, it appeared as if the Terps wore down defensively. What upset Turgeon most was not the number of 3-pointers Indiana hit; it was the number of layups and dunks the Hoosiers made, many uncontested, in the second half.
Maryland trailed at halftime by just three points before a 14-5 run by the Hoosiers made it 52-40. After the Terps twice closed to within eight points — at 52-44 and later at 61-53 — Ferrell hit 3-pointers on each occasion, the second starting another run that eventually led to a 21-point lead.
"When they're making that many shots, it's hard not to stay close to the shooters," said Turgeon, whose team dropped into a tie with Michigan for third place in the league, behind Wisconsin and Indiana. "Our closeouts [defensively] were bad, and our toughness trying to guard the ball wasn't what it needed to be during that stretch."
Turgeon is hoping his team, in particular his freshmen, learn from playing in front of a raucous crowd that he called "the best [atmosphere] we've played in this year." Smotrycz, who played here during his first two years at Michigan, said "it's probably the toughest place they'll have to play."
The Terps have two road games — at Ohio State on Thursday and at Iowa on Feb. 8 — before facing the Hoosiers again.
Asked whether he is looking forward to the rematch, Layman managed a small grin.
"Oh, yeah," he said.
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