Indiana improved to 6-1 with a comfortable 65-53 win over Maryland on Friday at Assembly Hall.
Here are five takeaways from the win against the Terrapins:
Trey Galloway delivers his best game of the young season
Indiana fans had been waiting most of last season to see the version of Galloway they saw.
On Friday, Galloway delivered his best performance of the young season.
The fourth-year guard from Culver Academies filled the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists. He went an efficient 6-for-10 from the field and logged a team-best 34 minutes of play.
With Xavier Johnson sidelined with a foot injury, it was a performance the Hoosiers desperately needed.
“Well, he knows we’re a little short-handed since his running mate isn’t out with X,” Mike Woodson said after the game. “He has to do more and give us more, and he’s a senior; That’s what he’s supposed to do.”
Galloway seemed more comfortable as he reached his spots on Friday. He made a few throws in transition, but also got into the lane against a Terps defense that didn’t provide much resistance to the offense most of the game.
Kel’el Ware dominates Julian Reese
Julian Reese was a surprise selection to the 10-man preseason All-Big Ten team, but got off to a strong start in Maryland’s first seven games.
Reese had averaged nearly a double-double but was no match for Kel’el Ware.
The 7-foot Ware established himself early, scoring in the paint and then knocking down a 3-pointer in transition.
“I felt like it was good for us as a team to start so early,” Ware said after the game. “Just to show the team that we came here today to play and just accomplish the mission of winning the game.”
Ware finished the game with a double-double – 18 points and 14 rebounds – and earned his fourth MVP title in seven games with KenPom.
Reese put up a solid line – 14 points and eight rebounds – but committed four fouls and was no match for Ware defensively.
Following his 8-for-12 shooting performance, the Oregon transfer is shooting 65.6 percent on 2s and 55.6 percent on 3s in seven games.
Without X, Indiana can handle Maryland’s defensive pressure
Maryland’s ability to force turnovers is a strength of its defense, but Indiana was able to handle the pressure for most of Friday’s game.
The Hoosiers committed 16 turnovers, four more than Woodson’s goal of 12 or fewer per game. However, only three goals came in the first half, and several came later when the game was out of reach.
Although Maryland finished the game with a slight edge in turnovers (18 to 13), Indiana’s ability to get stops and handle pressure early set the tone for the comfortable win.
“For me it is a learning tool. I need to be able to help them better,” Woodson said. “They (Maryland) didn’t do anything different than they did in the first half. I thought their pressing in the first half slowed us down a bit. But we were still able to press and they were equal in defense in the half court and we were still able to score points and move the ball.”
While Woodson expressed disappointment with Indiana’s sloppiness in the final seven minutes, Indiana’s steady guard play without Xavier Johnson was impressive and crucial against the Terps’ pressure.
Mackenzie Mgbako continues to look more comfortable
Mackenzie Mgbako’s difficult start to the season has been scrutinized.
As a five-star prospect and national top 10 player, many expected Mgbako to immediately develop into a top-class goalscorer.
However, this was not the case as Mgbako was benched in several of IU’s first games as he struggled on both ends.
The man from Gladstone, New Jersey followed up his 18 points against Harvard with another brilliant performance against Maryland. Mgbako scored 13 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field and 4-for-4 shooting from the free throw line on Friday.
More importantly, Mgbako also contributes in other key areas. He had seven rebounds against Maryland, dished out three assists, had one steal and didn’t commit a turnover in 26 minutes. Three of his rebounds have been offensive and he has been aggressively crashing the glass in the last two games.
It was a difficult return to the Assembly Hall for Jordan Geronimo
Former Indiana forward Jordan Geronimo, who transferred to Maryland last spring, returned to Bloomington on Friday.
It was a difficult evening on the floor for Geronimo.
The 6-foot-6 forward started for the Terps but didn’t score in 27 minutes.
He was 0-for-5 from the field with four rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot. He also committed three turnovers and three fouls. Geronimo even threw a free throw in the air.
The performance was somewhat reminiscent of the difficulties former Indiana winger Miller Kopp had in his return to Evanston against Northwestern. Geronimo couldn’t get anything going.
However, he will attack again with the Hoosiers. Indiana travels to College Park to face Maryland toward the end of the regular season on March 3.
Submitted to: Kel’el Ware, Maryland Terrapins, Trey Galloway