CHICAGO — Maryland's first official Big Ten rivalry might begin Friday night.
Mark Turgeon has been hesitant to call any team the eighth-ranked Terps have faced in their inaugural season in the Big Ten a rival, though a quarterfinal matchup with Indiana at the United Center just might have that kind of feel.
The teams' last meeting Feb. 11 at Xfinity Center was a jumping off point for both teams. In the aftermath of an embarrassing 71-55 loss at Iowa, Maryland beat Indiana, 68-66, when Yogi Ferrell missed two shots in the last six seconds.
The Terps were coming off a stretch where they had lost three road games by double digits (including by 19 in Bloomington) and had barely beaten Northwestern and Penn State at home.
They haven't lost since, winning seven straight overall and earning the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament.
The Hoosiers, who came into College Park on a three-game winning streak and had won four of five to pull even with Maryland for second-place at the time, won their next game at Minnesota before losing three of their last four prior to the Big Ten tournament. Indiana came in as the seventh seed.
Still, Indiana's performance here in a 71-56 win Thursday night over 10th-seed Northwestern has to be of concern for Turgeon and his staff. It was not just the fact that the Hoosiers hit 11 3-point shots (albeit in 32 attempts). It was the way they defended coming out in the first half.
In one stretch, Northwestern missed 13 straight shots and Indiana turned an early 5-3 deficit into a 24-6 lead.
Asked if it was his team's best defensive performance this season – or at least in the past month – Indiana coach Tom Crean said, "We've had some really good defensive efforts throughout the season…I thought we did some really good things against Maryland.
"But for this time of year and in a situation like this, this week to come in here and play that way with the youth of our team that we have and for them to be recharged and energized like that, and doing what we needed to defensively. ... I thought our players did an excellent job of locking into that."
Crean knows that shutting down Maryland guards Melo Trimble and Dez Wells will be a little different than shutting down Northwestern guards Bryant McIntosh and Tre Demps. The Hoosiers held Demps, who had scored 23 in a win over Indiana recently, to four points on five shots.
"Obviously those are two very good players, but once you start focusing so much of them, then Jake Layman, Evan Smotrycz, the freshmen guards like [Dion] Wiley and [Jared Nickens] and [senior Richaud] Pack, those guys make you pay," Crean said.
Said Ferrell: "We know they're a great team. They've got great guard with Dez Wells and Melo Trimble, great big inside, so it's all about diving into that film,taking away some of the tendencies. It's just going to be a fun game."
Maryland's primary focus will be trying to shut down Ferrell, who scored 24 points and missed just two of 10 shots (he made 7 of 8 on 3-pointers) in the first game the teams played. He had 23 points on eight of 16 shooting in the second game.
The Hoosiers (20-9) still might need to win Friday to earn an NCAA tournament bid, while the red-hot Terps are strictly playing to preserve – or improve – their seeding. Maryland is currently thought to be a No. 3 seed and could jump up a spot by getting to Sunday's final or winning the whole tournament.
Asked if there's pressure on Maryland to uphold its seeding and continue its run, Turgeon said, "I think all the pressure's off. We've had a heckuva regular season, we've got a nice team, let's just have some fun. I think it's the opposite of what you're thinking."
Turgeon is even hesitant to call Indiana – the school Maryland beat in the 2002 NCAA final for its only national championship – a rival. Depending on what happens Friday night in the Big Ten quarterfinals, that might start to change.