After losing four of six on the road to open the new year, the Terps are riding a two-game win streak and looking to add to it Tuesday night when they host No. 21 Indiana in College Park to conclude a three-game home stand.
The Terps are led by senior point guard Jahmir Young, who's scored in double figures in seven straight games, averaging 19.9 points per game during that stretch. The Charlotte transfer has become a serious candidate to earn First-Team All-Big Ten honors in his first year in the league.
The Hoosiers are led by fourth-year forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. The senior enters Tuesday night's game averaging a double-double of 19.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He also averages a league-leading 3.7 blocks per game in conference play.
Maryland has already faced some of the top players in the Big Ten like Iowa's Kris Murray, Ohio State's Brice Sensabaugh, Michigan's Hunter Dicksinson and leading player of the year candidate Zach Edey of Purdue. But according to Maryland head coach Kevin Willard, Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis is in a league of his own.
"I don't think we have enough time, he's that good," Willard said of Jackson-Davis. "They just post him up on the left block and you gotta try to stop him and no one has figured it out. And I'll be honest with you, I haven't figured it out yet."
When a reporter chimed in that "it's not a one-man game," Willard quickly stopped him.
"No, it's a one-man game, he's that good," said Willard. "I think he's more dominant than Zach Edey, and that's saying something. He gets everyone else shots, he's a willing passer, he's an unbelievable rebounder, he pushes the ball up in transition, he's really, really tough in the mid-post area. He's almost impossible if he posts up in the middle of the lane. He is an unbelievable shot blocker. He's a very, very good defender. I think over the last five games he's scoring almost at an 82 percent clip on the right block. That's against the best defenses and the best coaches in college basketball. They have very good players top to bottom, but he's the best player in college basketball right now."
As for how the Terps might be able to slow Jackson-Davis down, that might be easier said than done.
"If he's not getting the ball and you're double-teaming him, he'll just go get offensive rebounds," said Willard. "What you have to understand is, a player like him is probably going to get what he gets and you just have to make sure he doesn't distribute and do what he's done over the past five games, making everyone on that roster really, really good. I mean, they are good players, but he is making them almost unstoppable with his play."
One of those Hoosiers that has benefited from the recent play of Jackson-Davis is freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, who is coming off of a 24-point performance in which he went 6 of 9 from three versus Ohio State. As a team, Indiana enters their game with Maryland shooting 39.9 percent from beyond the three-point arc in league play, which is tops in the Big Ten.
While Maryland has struggled shooting the ball from three for much of the season, they have gone 14 of 37 (37.8%) from beyond the arc during their recent home stand. They will look to keep it going Tuesday night when they host the Hoosiers in front of, what should be, a raucous home crowd.
The Terps and Hoosiers are set to tip-off at 9:00 p.m. ET with the game set to be televised on ESPN2.
