The Maryland Terrapins protected their house by beating a good Indiana Hoosiers team, 75-72 before a pumped up and packed home crowd at Xfinity Center.
The turning point came when freshman Kevin Huerter hit a three giving Maryland a 71-70 lead with 1:48 to play and then he grabbed a rebound and launched a down court pass to a streaking Anthony Cowan who beat the defender to the bucket and sank the layup giving the Terps a 73-70 advantage.
On the next Indiana possession center Demonte Dodd, who had a career-tying six of the Terp’s nine blocked shots, got another one with 57 seconds to go and the home crowd went wild.
A turnover led to a Hoosiers dunk and then Maryland’s Melo Trimble was fouled with eight seconds to go and calmly went to the free throw line and sank both shots giving his team a 75-72 lead.
The Terps, up by three, decided to play good defense and not foul, sending the Hoosiers to the line for two shots and the strategy worked.
After the three-pointer clanked off the rim and was collected by Huerter, Maryland was able to celebrate a big conference win while improving to (15-2, 3-1 Big Ten).
The game seesawed back and forth with 15 lead changes and nine ties.
Maryland ended with four players in double figures led by Trimble’s 18 points. He was also eight of 10 from the free throw line. Maryland is 31-4 when he gets there at least seven times in a game.
Cowan had 15 points three rebounds three steals and two assists. Justin Jackson finished with 11 points and six rebounds and Huerter also scored 11 points and snagged a team-high seven rebounds.
The trio of freshman starters,who are improving with each game, combined for 37 points and 16 rebounds
Center Dodd had a three-of-a-kind with six points, rebounds and blocks and L.G.Gill provided a spark off the bench while scoring seven points.
The game was close throughout and the Terps has a 21-14 lead after a Jackson layup with 8:45 to go in the first half.
It was even at 34-34 with 2:11 to go before the break on a layup by Indiana’s James Blackmon Jr. Maryland got some momentum going into halftime when Trimble streaked to the bucket with one second to play, his layup giving Maryland a 39-38 lead at the break.
Neither team was able to seize control in the second half and a Huerter three gave Maryland a 66-63 lead with 5:08 left in the game.
Blackmon, who was a thorn in Maryland’s side all game, scored five straight points, giving Indiana a 68-66 lead with 3:55 to go. Dodd tied the game with a layup.
And with Maryland down 70-68, Huerter took over with 1:48 to go, setting up the exciting finish.
Maryland played good defense causing 14 turnovers, had nine blocks and four steals. The held Indiana, the Big Ten’s top scoring team at 85 points per game, to 13 points below their average and 42 percent shooting from the floor.
Indiana did hit 10 of 23 shots from long distance.
The Terps shot 44 percent from the field and were seven of 19 from beyond-the-arc. Maryland made 18 off 22 free throws while Indiana was eight of nine from the charity stripe.
The Hoosiers won the rebounding battle 37 to 34.
Indiana was led in scoring by Blackmon who finished with 22 points while making four of eight three pointers. Robert Johnson added 13 points and four rebounds. Thomas Bryant finished with six points and a team-high seven rebounds in a losing effort for the (11-6, 1-3) Hoosiers.
