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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports men's basketball

OPINION: Maryland was a matchup nightmare for IU

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On the surface, IU’s 77-76 loss to No. 17 Maryland looked like a wasted opportunity to beat two top-20 teams in four days. 

IU should have won the game but instead let it slip away, allowing Maryland to go on a 7-0 run in the last 1:08. The Hoosiers weren’t expected to be that close to begin with, after losing by 16 in their first meeting three weeks ago in College Park, Maryland.

In that game, the team was run out of the building while the Terrapins showed how easily they could mitigate the Hoosiers’ usual success inside. Maryland has a mix of size and skill that mirrors that of IU’s. But it is just better.

Maryland uses sophomore forward Jalen Smith and senior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. in the same way IU uses freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis and senior guard Devonte Green.

The difference is that Smith has been an unstoppable force for the Terrapins, averaging 14.4 points per game and shooting 43% from three, while Cowan is one of the most dynamic scorers in college basketball.

“Cowan and Smith were the difference,” IU head coach Archie Miller said after the game. 

Smith’s ability to knock down open threes and Cowan’s quick drives to the bucket put a lot of pressure on the IU defense.

In IU’s impact wins this season against Florida State University, Ohio State and Michigan State, the Hoosiers have been able to play bully-ball by feeding the low post and attacking inside. IU is a big team, especially when they play with Jackson-Davis alongside junior forwards Joey Brunk and Justin Smith, who are all 6-feet-7-inches or taller and weigh more than 230 pounds.

Maryland is one of the few teams in the country that can match IU’s size. Smith is a lengthy 6-foot-10-inch forward that can stretch the floor. The Hoosiers started the game with Brunk trying to guard Smith but quickly realized that was a doomed matchup. 

Smith opened the game making two 3-pointers en route to a 29-point performance. No matter who IU put on Smith, he was either quicker than them or stronger, something that IU has rarely had to deal with this season.

“He's not like a traditional big where he posts up most of the time,” IU sophomore guard Rob Phinisee said of Smith. “We had to switch up coverages on him and just have different guys guard him because he's such a good player. Credit to him, he made big shots when he did it.”

In the second half, when Miller finally decided to send help whenever Smith got the ball, it left Phinisee on an island against Cowan. While Phinisee is one of the best on-ball defenders in the Big Ten, it’s unfair to expect him to contain Cowan while playing one-on-one.

IU has experience playing pick-your-poison basketball. The Hoosiers have made their opponents either double-team its forwards, generating kick out 3-pointers, or play one-on-one, creating easy bucks for the Hoosiers’ big men.

Maryland did the same thing to IU. The Hoosiers had no answer for Smith and Cowan for the majority of the game, while the Terrapins forced them into impossible decisions.

Even though Maryland had the perfect roster of players to counter what makes IU so dangerous, the Hoosiers were only a point-blank layup away from knocking off the better version of themselves. 

“We did enough to win the game,” Miller said. “We also did enough to lose it there at the end.”

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