Indiana Puts Together Another 2nd Half Comeback, Beats Maryland 70-60

Indiana came roaring back in the second half once again, overwhelming Maryland on Friday night in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals and winning 70-60 at the United Center in Chicago. Trayce Jackson-Davis led the way with 24 points, but got plenty of help from freshmen Jalen Hood-Schifino and Malik Reneau as well.

© Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

CHICAGO — Eight times this year now, Indiana has been behind in the second half of a game but came back to win anyway. That's a nice trait for any basketball team to have, at any level. 

The No. 3 seed Hoosiers did it again on Friday night, erasing a seven-point second-half when they needed it the most. It's lose-and-go-home-time right now, so beating Maryland 70-60 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals meant a lot. Now the Hoosiers advance to their second straight semifinal, where they will take on No. 10 seed Penn State, who upset No. 2 seed Northwestern in overtime.

 Fall behind? No biggie. This team won't quit, and they'll come back. Over and over again.

"Yeah, you're right. We did have a problem with that in the past,'' Jackson-Davis said of the comebacks that rarely occurred during his first three years at Indiana,'' "What we've been doing lately with the fight from this team, everyone's on the same page, everyone's engaging. 

"We came here for one reason, that's to win a championship, and I think everybody understands that. We're going to play as hard as we can to get that done.''

Indiana coach Mike Woodson wasn't aware that Indiana has come back so many times this season. But he's just glad he has stars like Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino to carry a team through tough times. He's also that the all of Indiana's role players played well, too.

"I thought the second half was the difference,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "We came out and established ourselves defensively, finally rebounded with them, and was able to come out of this with the win.

"I thought our switching was right on par, and we were able to keep people in front of us. The pick-and-rolls didn't really hurt us because we were up on the picks. Then Trayce just dominated inside, in terms of things that were coming to the rim, he made some big-time blocks and altered some shots. And then we were able to rebound with this team. That was the big key I thought.''

Indiana got off to a great start, scoring on their first five possessions and building an early six-point lead. But it didn't last long. Maryland was getting good looks from three-point range, and his six threes in a 10-minute window in the first half. They went on a 23-9 run to take an eight-point lead. 

Indiana scratched back and trailed by two at halftime, but they quickly fell behind by seven points again within the first four minutes. They looked to be in big trouble, but Miller Kopp hit a three for the Hoosiers that started a rally. They tied the game two-plus minutes later on a tough Jalen Hood-Schifino drive to the basket, sparking a 14-0 run the blew the game open.

Sophomore guard Tamar Bates scored that last of the 14 points with a three-pointer to make it 54-43 with 9:36 to go. It was the first three-point shot he's made away from Bloomington since Jan. 11, a mere 58 days ago.   

Maryland got it to six points on three different occasions, but got no closer than that.

Indiana (22-10) lost by double-digits in the one meeting earlier this year at College Park. In that game, Hood-Schifino was just 1-for-14 shooting. But Friday, he was 8-for-15 shooting and scored 19 points. He also played all 40 minutes and had six rebounds and three blocks.

The two performances were like night and day. And Maryland coach Kevin Willard really noticed. Hood-Schifino was a game-changer, for sure.

"He's a pro,'' Willard said of the 6-foot-6 freshman. ''I thought he got himself going in transition much better than he did the first time. I thought we did a much better job in transition defense at home. I thought transition defense was really the difference. And I thought he did a great job of really attacking and getting downhill. I mean, even in the first half, two of his buckets were in transition. So I just thought he did a great job of pushing the pace.

"I thought tonight, you know what, he made some tough shots. The three he made at the end of the shot clock, he's a pro. That's what pros do. Pros make big-time shots. But I thought transition was the biggest difference.''

Jackson-Davis, who admitted he didn't feel like he played well in the first half, finished the game with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He was also 8-for-13 from the line, missing his first three but then making six in a row. He also had nine rebounds and seven assists, with four blocks and three steals.

That's stat-stuffing, in a good way.

"You've got to give Trayce a lot of credit,'' Maryland coach Kevin Willard said. "I thought he was phenomenal, just nonstop. For playing 38 minutes, he's an elite player. He really is. I'm looking forward to watching him in the NBA next year.''

The role players did a lot, too. Kopp had 10 points, and freshman Malik Reneau had eight points and 11 rebounds. What was big for Reneau was that he was able to play 21 minutes while only picking up one foul. 

Indiana is a dramatically better team when he can stay on the floor for long runs. That showed on Friday. 

"Just trusting Coach, and him being able to trust me on the court too,'' Reneau said about what made Friday different. "Plus, my teammates give me that confidence to play how I want to play, just being tough and not letting the other team score.''

Jackson-Davis loves playing with his fellow 6-foot-9 lefty, and they clicked often Friday against a Maryland front line that owned them in early Dcemeber.

"Absolutely. I think me and Malik complement each other very well. When he's playing his game, I'm just watching him, like he's a freshman but he's doing his thing out there,'' Jackson-Davis said. "Props to him because sometimes it's hard coming off the bench, especially you're cold, but he comes off, and like you said, he gives us a spark. We needed it a lot tonight.''

Indiana was able to avenge a bad road loss on Friday, and on Saturday afternoon they get a chance to avenge their worst road loss, which came at Penn State on Jan. 11. They lost 85-66 in Happy Valley, and gave up a ridiculous 18 made three-pointers.

They'll have to be way better than that to reach Sunday's final, where the winner of Saturday's first semifinal between Purdue and Ohio State awaits.

Indiana, as all of Hoosier Nation knows, has never won the Big Ten Tournament in 24 tries. They've only made the finals once, losing to Iowa in 2001. 

This team, though, is different. There's something about them that makes winning a title seem reasonable.  

"I just think these guys are committed, man. They have that no-quit mentality, and that's the kind of team that you want,'' Woodson said. "It's easy to get down and then throw in the towel and say, hey, we'll get the next one, but this team hasn't been that way. We've just got to continue to take it a game at a time and see where it leads us.''

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