Written by: TJ Inman
With a brutally difficult schedule looming, the Indiana Hoosiers entered this week knowing any path to the NCAA Tournament desperately needed a pair of wins as they took on Washington and Maryland. IU took care of business in Assembly Hall against the Huskies on Sunday night and used an 18-4 run, primarily orchestrated by Lamar Wilkerson, to pull away from the Maryland Terrapins and secure a key road win in College Park. During that critical stretch, Wilkerson poured in 16 straight points for the Hoosiers as IU extended the lead 40-38 to 61-44. Maryland did not get closer than 12 points after that as IU cruised to the 84-66 final. Lamar Wilkerson led the visitors with 24 points on 9-17 shooting. He was joined in double-figures by Tayton Conerway (19), Conor Enright (16) and Reed Bailey (15) while the Hoosiers were led on the glass by Tayton Conerway’s eight rebounds. Five different IU players had four rebounds or more in the game.
The game was incredibly ugly in the first half as both teams struggled from the field. IU was only 9-26 from the field and just 2-12 from three in the first 20 minutes but they were a perfect 16-16 from the free throw line to keep their heads above water and go to the locker room with a five-point lead at 36-31. The poor shooting on the road continued the trend Indiana displayed against Kentucky and Minnesota but they found a bit of offensive rhythm after the break as Conor Enright nailed a pair of threes and Tayton Conerway got a layup as he attacked the rim to stop a Maryland run before Indiana’s senior transfer from Sam Houston State hit the turbo boosters with 16-straight points. Maryland was in the double-bonus and continued to battle but Indiana found success in the paint as Reed Bailey, Trent Sisley and Lamar Wilkerson all cut by the Terrapins’ defense and threw down dunks in traffic to end any hope of a comeback.
The Indiana Hoosiers connected on 22-26 from the foul line, helping to offset the 8-24 showing from beyond the arc. After starting very poorly on the glass, Indiana bounced back and handled the Terrapins 41-33 on the boards while limiting Maryland to just 41% from the field and forcing 11 turnovers. IU is now 3-1 in the Big Ten and 12-3 overall as they return home to host the unbeaten Nebraska Cornhuskers in a pivotal showdown on Saturday at Assembly Hall.