No. 6 seed Maryland men’s basketball loses lead during 20-2 run, falls, 70-60, to No. 3 seed Indiana in Big Ten quarterfinal

CHICAGO — For newcomers to the Maryland men’s basketball program such as Jahmir Young, Don Carey, Jahari Long and Kevin Willard, their first immersion in the Big Ten Tournament might have been nice, but it was short-lived.

One day after running over No. 14 seed Minnesota in a second-round game, the No. 6 seed Terps were bounced out of the tournament by No. 3 seed Indiana, which forged a 70-60 victory in a quarterfinal Friday night before an announced 18,892 at the United Center.

In a case of quality over quantity, Maryland received double-digit point production from four starters, a group led by senior shooting guard Hakim Hart’s team-high 16 points. But that output wasn’t enough to cancel out the brilliance of the Hoosiers’ Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino, who combined to score 43 of their team’s 70 points.

The setback prevented Maryland (21-12) from reaching its third Big Ten Tournament semifinal since joining the conference for the 2014-15 season and first since 2015-2016. The program slid to 2-3 in the quarterfinal round of the league’s postseason.

With regular-season-ending losses at Ohio State and Penn State — two teams playing in Saturday’s semifinals — the Terps dropped their game in the past four. But coach Kevin Willard took umbrage with a question inquiring whether he would need to help the players alter their mindset for the NCAA Tournament.

“I love my team. I don’t know what I have to refocus,” he said. “We’ve won 21 games. You can go and refocus. Maybe you should because I’m proud of this team. This team is pretty damn good. Come Selection Sunday, we’re going to celebrate. Again, we lost at Ohio State who’s in the semifinals and has won six out of seven. We lost on a buzzer-beater at Penn State who has now won seven out of eight. So I’m not refocused on anything.”

Meanwhile, the Hoosiers (22-10) collected their fourth victory in their past six games and avenged a 66-55 loss to the Terps on Jan. 31 back in College Park. The team earned the right to face No. 10 seed Penn State (21-12) in Saturday’s semifinal at 3:30 p.m. after the Nittany Lions upended No. 2 seed Northwestern (21-11), 67-65 in overtime, in an earlier quarterfinal.

The Terps had few answers for senior power forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, who demonstrated why he was a unanimous All-Big Ten first-team selection. He amassed a game-high 24 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four blocks and three steals.

Jackson-Davis was especially effective in the second half, scoring 15 points and accumulating up eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. He acknowledged that Indiana benefiting from the double bye to Friday’s quarterfinals might have been a factor.

“Honestly, I felt like in the first half, I didn’t play well,” he said. “I thought I was sluggish to start, and I think that had to do with the traveling and just not playing for four days. With the Big Ten schedule, you’re playing every three days, and with the time off, we had to get our legs under us. But after we did, in the second half, we played really well.”

Just several hours after No. 13 seed Ohio State became the lowest seed to advance to Saturday’s semifinals after stunning No. 4 seed Michigan State, 70-65, and 30 minutes after the Nittany Lions surprised the Wildcats, Maryland could not follow their lead as underdogs who sent home tournament favorites. No. 1 seed Purdue played up to its seeding by holding off No. 9 seed Rutgers, 70-65.

In that late-January setback to the Terps, Indiana got 18 points and 20 rebounds from Jackson-Davis and 11 points and four rebounds from redshirt senior power forward Race Thompson, but no other player finished with more than seven points and five rebounds en route to the team’s second-lowest offensive output of the season.

Unlike that game, the Hoosiers were much more dynamic Friday night. Jackson-Davis was complemented by freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino’s 19 points, six rebounds and three blocks, senior small forward Miller Kopp’s 10 points and three assists, and freshman power forward Malik Reneau came off the bench to provide eight points and 11 rebounds.

Indiana outscored Maryland, 38-26, in the second half as the latter’s offense sputtered too frequently. The unit labored to score at times, falling into droughts of 2:02 and 2:42 in the first half and 5:25, 2:02 and 2:07 in the second half. After shooting 40% (12 of 30) in the first period, the Terps managed just 25% (8 of 32) in the second.

“I think overall in the first half, our ball movement was pretty good,” said Hart, who scored eight points in the first half. “We had space and were getting up a lot of shots. In the second half, we just were missing shots. We did a good job of spacing. We just couldn’t convert.”

Indiana coach Mike Woodson credited his players with intensifying their defensive effort.

“I thought the second half was the difference,” he said. “We came out and established ourselves defensively. I thought we rebounded well, and we were able to come out with the win.”

Nursing a 34-32 lead at halftime, Maryland opened the second half with a 7-2 burst that began thanks to five straight points on a layup and 3-pointer by senior small forward Donta Scott. At that point, the Terps owned a 41-34 advantage just 3:56 into the period.

But Indiana replied with a 20-2 run over a 5:52 span to assume a 54-43 lead with 9:36 remaining, regaining its first advantage since the score was 17-15 with 12:30 left in the first half. During that stretch, Maryland missed nine consecutive shots and went scoreless in a 4:50 span.

A 3-pointer by Carey, a graduate student shooting guard who transferred from Georgetown, ended a 5:25 drought for the Terps, who drew within six points on two occasions. But the Hoosiers responded each time to cement the win.

Maryland’s offense sputtered too frequently. The unit labored to score at times, falling into droughts of 2:02 and 2:42 in the first half and 5:25, 2:02 and 2:07 in the second half.

Besides Hart, Young, a graduate student point guard who had transferred from UNC Charlotte, scored 12 points, Carey added 11 points, and Scott compiled 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Indiana opened the game by connecting on its first five shots and racing to an 11-5 lead just 2:43 into the first half. After the Hoosiers remained ahead at 17-13 with 13:21 left, Maryland embarked on an 11-0 run over a 4:03 stretch to assume a 24-17 advantage.

Jackson-Davis’ layup at the 8:03 mark ended a 5:09 drought for Indiana, and he converted one of two free throws to draw within 24-20. But the Terps sandwiched a jumper by Hood-Schifino with 3-pointers by Carey and Scott to enjoy their biggest lead of the game at 30-22 with 5:32 left in the first half.

The Hoosiers replied by closing out the final 4:33 on a 10-4 spurt that included making their last three shots and five of their last seven. Still, Maryland carried a 34-32 lead into halftime.

NCAA Tournament Selection Shows

Men: Sunday, 6 p.m., Chs. 13, 9

Women: Sunday, 8 p.m., ESPN