As the ultimate buzzer sounded, Indiana senior ahead Luke Goode stood beneath the basket along with his arms out as to shrug, utterly dumbfounded by what had simply transpired. He seemed in awe, then appeared to mutter, “What the f—.”
After the Hoosiers took a 78-74 lead with 38 seconds remaining in opposition to Maryland on Sunday, the Terrapins responded with a bucket and a late 3-pointer to take the lead with seven seconds left. Indiana referred to as timeout and a flurry of substitutions left IU confused about who was presupposed to be within the recreation and finally led to a contested nook jumper that hit nothing however air.
The outcome was disappointing. Though the Hoosiers performed effectively in one in all their extra constant outings of the season, they nonetheless got here up brief.
Postgame, Indiana coach Mike Woodson didn’t take a lot accountability for the disastrous last play when followers booed as Anthony Leal was substituted out after a superb stretch. Confusion was ample.
“They went to zone, and once we went beneath out of bounds, we had a play for Myles (Rice) to return off as a result of we knew they’d change to large, and he didn’t,” Woodson mentioned. “Myles didn’t come off, and he stayed there within the nook, and we didn’t get a lot out of it.”
In the meantime, Rice took possession of not performing his position adequately postgame.
“That’s on me as the purpose guard,” Rice mentioned. “It doesn’t matter what lineup we’re in, we now have to ensure everyone knows what we’re doing, and I’ll take a number of the warmth on that.”
The street to a wild Sunday afternoon end was tight from the beginning. In a primary half full of sturdy offensive outputs from Goode, Oumar Ballo and Mackenzie Mgbako, the Hoosiers struggled to maintain up with Maryland’s backcourt defensively. Nonetheless, neither workforce led by greater than 5 factors and IU trailed 38-37 on the half.
Indiana emerged from the locker room sluggish and the Terrapins pounced. Their fifth 3-pointer of the body on the 9:34 mark gave Maryland its solely double-digit lead and a disgruntled wave swept over Meeting Corridor.
For many of this season, Indiana has accepted defeat in that state of affairs. Sunday, nevertheless, was a special story.
Rice got here alive, flattening a pair of triples and reinvigorating the group. He pushed the tempo and located his shot and pulled the strings for the Hoosiers. Indiana’s offense was buzzing and the momentum shifted.
IU was working inside out and scoring at will. Its protection grew to become extra engaged and an incredible cease by Anthony Leal pressured a turnover and fast-break alternative. Rice and Leal completely executed a give-and-go, which Leal transformed plus a foul to tie the sport at 70 with 4:42 left.
The Hoosiers led by as many as 5, however their offense briefly stalled, and Maryland chipped on the deficit. Main by only one, Leal corralled a unfastened ball on the rim and transformed one other and-1 to push the result in 78-74 with 38 seconds left.
Then, the collapse commenced.
After a Terrapins bucket, Trey Galloway was fouled with 22 seconds however missed the entrance finish of a one-and-one, giving Maryland an opportunity. It took benefit, turning a scrambled play right into a 3-pointer from Rodney Rice to take a 79-78 lead.
“We simply didn’t get a key cease with a foul to provide,” Woodson mentioned. “The ball scrambled out. The preliminary thrust of their offense, I assumed we performed it effectively.”
Rice obtained the inbound and charged forward with seven seconds, however Woodson opted to name timeout on the sideline as an alternative of permitting his gamers to give you a rating. Hindsight is 20/20, nevertheless it was the flawed resolution.
Within the sequence, Maryland deflected the primary inbound out of bounds on the baseline. Then, Goode and Mgbako substituted in for Leal and Ballo after confusion and dialogue on the bench.
The ultimate play was ugly. Two Hoosiers stood within the nook on the ball facet and after seconds of hardly any motion the ball was pressured into Rice, who had nowhere to go and threw up a shot that by no means had an opportunity. The ball was tipped away and the buzzer sounded.
It’s exhausting to ever pinpoint one play that determines a recreation’s final result, however Sunday was as shut because it will get. Woodson, nevertheless, thought IU blew a number of possibilities within the last minute.
“You’ve obtained to make performs down the stretch, and I obtained to get them to grasp that,” he mentioned. “It was simply the little issues we didn’t execute.”
The sport’s last 5 minutes entailed cautious optimism from Indiana followers, with increasingly pleasure constructed up earlier than sudden failure led to disappointment. It mirrors the trajectory of IU’s season, courting again to preseason expectations to be contenders within the Large Ten.
At this level, there are a number of the reason why the Hoosiers have underperformed in varied outcomes: lack of preparation or effort, poor teaching, defensive deficiencies, inconsistent play general, and so on. Nevertheless, the query stays as to why IU can not establish the supply and tackle it.
Hope isn’t fully misplaced, however the candle has perhaps an inch of wax remaining and is burning extra quickly than ever. With a frightening schedule nonetheless forward, all of the Hoosiers can do is hope one thing clicks and turns issues round.
“We’ve obtained 10 video games left,” Leal mentioned. “Our subsequent 4 are in opposition to actually, actually good groups that, if we’re in a position to string some wins collectively, it modifications the entire trajectory of our season.”
Filed to: Maryland Terrapins
