Maryland (6-4, 1-3 Big Ten) has won its last three games when playing against Indiana (6-4, 1-2), but the Terps will have to make it four in a row if they want to get back into the win column Jan. 4.
The Hoosiers will host Maryland for the first time since a dramatic 77-76 Terps’ victory in Assembly Hall last season. The Terps scored seven straight points in the final 1:25 of that game to claim the win. Jalen “Stix” Smith scored four of the seven points, with the other three coming on a clutch three-pointer by Aaron Wiggins. It was Maryland’s first-ever win on the hardwood in Bloomington.
But in order to pull off another victory over the Hoosiers, Maryland will have to do so without its senior leader Darryl Morsell, who suffered a facial fracture during the Michigan game that subsequently required surgery.
The initial timetable given for Morsell’s return to the court was 1-2 weeks, but Turgeon admitted Sunday that the timeframe is still up in the air and Morsell is currently only able to watch practice while icing his face. Morsell had successful surgery but will not travel with the team to Bloomington.
“Everything went great (with Morsell). The surgery was great. The surgeons did a great job,” Turgeon said. “His face is pretty swollen still a little bit, but he’s not in a lot of pain. So we feel like he’s on the right track. In practice, he keeps ice on it the whole time. But he’s our toughest kid so we’ll see.”
Turgeon knows that losing a leader like Morsell is never ideal, and he is hoping it can spark something in the rest of his roster to help keep the ship afloat while the Baltimore native heals.
“It’s different without him, obviously. He’s a really important part of our team,” Turgeon said. “So you’re asking more out of more people — Eric [Ayala] and [Aaron Wiggins] and Donta [Scott] and Gailin [Smith] and Reese Mona — guys who have been around, guys who understand what it takes to win. Those guys just have to be a little bit tougher and a little bit better leaders with the rest of the team.”
Junior forward Jairus Hamitlon echoed his coach’s sentiment about Morsell’s value to the team.
“Darryl is a tough kid. He just brings so much energy to our team. He just offensively and defensively has a huge presence on the court,” Hamilton said. “So it has been definitely a team contribution trying to pick up the energy and all of that toughness that he brings daily. So we’re just trying to figure out how we’re going to move on for however long he’s going to be out for.”
But the Terps are also confident that they can overcome the challenges of the loss if they maintain Morsell’s grittiness on the court.
“If we go in with [Morsell’s] mindset, we’ll be fine,” sophomore wing Hakim Hart said.
Morsell’s injury thrust the Terps into a situation where they must develop depth and do so quickly.
Hart has played at a high level for the most part in his time off the bench this season and Turgeon said on Sunday that he will be stepping into the starting lineup for Morsell. Maryland is hoping Hart and others — including newcomer James Graham, who is eligible to play after enrolling early as a freshman — can step up and fill the void.
“We’re trying to build depth,” Turgeon said. “We’re trying to figure this thing out. I feel like we’re getting closer, but obviously with Darryl’s injury. We felt like we were on the right track and James Graham coming in gives us another big body type thing. So Hakim will move into the starting lineup and we’ll just kind of figure it out from there — see how guys are playing and go from there. But we had two good days of practice. We’re trying to figure out how to become a better defensive team. We worked really hard defensively and hopefully that helps us against a really good Indiana team.”
As Turgeon alluded to, Maryland’s defense was lacking in its last outing against Michigan. The Terps let up a season-high 84 points and allowed the Wolverines to have their way in the paint.
Even with arguably its best defender sidelined, Turgeon is expecting a much better defensive effort from his team on Monday night.
“Defensively it’s just not good enough,” Turgeon said. “So that has really been our focus, just defensively trying to get better. And obviously Darryl is one of our best defenders so it makes it even more difficult. But we’ve really emphasized it and tried to do some things.”
The effort has been there for the Terps all season, however, they still only have one Big Ten win to show for it so far — albeit on the road against the No. 6 ranked team at the time.
But Turgeon believes that if his guys just keep giving maximum effort, their play is bound to turn a corner.
“Our guys play so hard and that’s all I can ask,” Turgeon said. “They may be the hardest-playing team I’ve ever had. We just have to play better.”
Maryland and Indiana tip off at Assembly Hall at 8 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network and broadcast on the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
