Maryland Proved It Belongs
Plus Indiana eviscerates Ohio State, who lost the plot entirely
There was not a ton happening this week in the Big Ten. Iowa fell to Iowa State, giving Cyclones star senior Ashley Joens the first win over the Hawkeyes of her collegiate career.
That was a big ranked matchup, but the other two ranked games in the conference will be more of the focus here.
Maryland Comes Up Short Against South Carolina
Maryland’s last two games against ranked opponents ended in 18-point losses. There was reason to assume that the Terrapins, despite all their talent, could have faced a similar fate against No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday.
The Gamecocks have spit out and chewed every team it has faced this season, starting 10-0 with key wins against NC State (by 9), Oregon (by 17) and UConn (by 16). This is one of the toughest slates to open a season in the country, and it hasn’t mattered even a little bit. Maryland was also still without All-Big Ten player Diamond Miller.
Then when you look at pieces of the box score, you can again assume that this was a blowout in South Carolina’s favor. Maryland – the nation’s top offense last season – shot 31.3 percent from the field and were outrebounded 61-34. Aaliyah Boston, maybe the best player in the country, had 16 of those rebounds and added seven blocks.
And yet, despite all of these stats, the final score was more than respectable: South Carolina 66, Maryland 59.
Past that, Maryland had a fourth quarter lead at one point, and it was a 61-59 game with 2:04 to go after an and-one by the Terps’ Angel Reese. But from there, Maryland missed a couple shots, South Carolina hit some free throws, and the Gamecocks remained undefeated.
The bad shooting night is forgivable for one big reason: South Carolina does that to everybody. But why this, to me, proves Maryland remains an elite team is the defensive effort it showed against such a strong opponent. The Gamecocks shot 36.4 percent from the field and were just 3 of 17 from three. The Terps forced 16 turnovers and scored 17 points off them to help survive SC’s 24 second-chance points.
For Maryland, now No. 9 in the country to show this level of defensive ability against the unanimous No. 1 team in the country after being, at best, a mediocre defensive team in 2020-21 is massive, and when Miller comes back, the Terrapins should be the Big Ten team to beat once again.
Indiana Wins Big Over Ohio State
Indiana proved once again how good it can be with a resounding 86-66 victory on the road against a ranked Ohio State team.
This was the quintessential Indiana performance: 58.1 percent shooting overall, just 9 three-point attempts and an absolutely monstrous performance from Mackenzie Holmes, who has went from All-Big Ten talent to a true star for the No. 10 Hoosiers in the early going.
30 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks, 13/19 FG
She was not without help, though. Grace Berger had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and zero turnovers on an incredibly efficient 9 of 13 from the field. Nicole Cardano-Hillary added 17 points and 7 rebounds. Ali Patberg had 7 assists with just 1 turnover. It was, simply put, a clinical showing for the Hoosiers.
I have my questions about what in the world Ohio State’s plan was to win this game, specifically on offense. This roster was always going to have defensive issues, especially with a talented forward like Holmes, but its ability to play fast and shoot the three ball was suppose to counteract that.
On Sunday, weirdly enough, at least half of that was working. The Buckeyes were tremendous from deep, hitting 10 of their 19 three-point attempts. My question is why did they not shoot more of them then?
The big one to me, though, is the fast break points. Ohio State had just 4, while Indiana had 16. The Hoosiers also turned 17 Buckeye turnovers into 26 points.
Ohio State shot 52.6 percent from three, and shot just 29.8 percent from two. Despite shooting the vast majority of its attempts from inside the perimeter, Ohio State had just 18 points in the paint to Indiana’s 56.
This is not what you want to see in the Buckeyes’ first game against a good opponent. We will just have to wait until they play UCLA this upcoming Sunday to see if the problems have been fixed.
What to Watch
This is a barren middle of the week, but the weekend promises to bring some excitement to make up for it.
Minnesota vs. Ohio, Wednesday (12/15), 8 p.m. – B1G+
Minnesota has played more games than anyone in the country, and yet we still seem to know so little about how good this team can be.
The Gophers sit at just 6-6, but have three straight close losses against strong competition. This was a team I thought had a chance to be a surprise thanks to unprecedented roster cohesion, and this upcoming stretch of games could make or break their season.
Ohio is more than a good test. The Bobcats have played just five games and are sitting at 3-2, but they also have Cierra Hooks, one of the most exciting players in the entire country. This game could truly go either way, but it would be a big swing of good momentum if Minnesota can pull it out.
No. 14 Iowa vs. UCF, Saturday (12/18), 7:30 p.m. – B1G+
I thought Caitlin Clark was going to come out and prove me wrong against Iowa State, but it was yet another uneven performance: 26 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, pretty good! On 26 attempts (10 of 26, 4 of 12 from 3PT) with 6 turnovers, pretty not good!
Clark is better and has proven she can be more efficient than this, and she will get another chance to do it against a good team this week, though it won’t be easy. UCF is 7-1 and specializes in making every basketball game feel like a root canal.
The Knights allow 44.6 points per game, the lowest in the country. Teams are shooting 33.2 percent from the field and turn it over 20.4 times per contest. The most points they’ve allowed all year was 51 to Arkansas in a 1-point win.
If Clark and the Hawkeyes can break through this defense, they can break through any. It’s going to be one hell of a matchup between clashing styles.
No. 13 Michigan vs. No. 5 Baylor, Sunday (12/19), 1 p.m. – ESPN
Michigan continues to roll forward without typical starting guard Amy Dilk, and the Wolverines survived an upset scare this past Sunday, coming back from a halftime deficit to take down Minnesota.
At 10-1, Naz Hillmon is still clearly the heartbeat of the team, but she is off to a “slow” start by her lofty standards with 20.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Leigha Brown is coming back into her own and had a big 19-point outing to beat the Gophers.
Guard Laila Phelia is one to watch for as well, as the true freshman was a top 30 prospect out of high school and has been thrust into a starting role due to the Dilk injury. All three of those players will have to be on their A-game to compete with Baylor, who is 9-1 with a lone loss to Maryland.
The last time Michigan played a top-tier opponent, it went about as poorly as it could have. A rebound here against the Bears is pivotal to prove the Wolverines deserve their current ranking.
No. 24 Ohio State @ UCLA, Sunday (12/19), 8 p.m. – Pac-12 Network
As mentioned above, Ohio State did not impress against Indiana, which was legitimately the first good team it has played all year, though Syracuse has now won five straight thanks to the momentum from upsetting the Buckeyes.
UCLA falls into a similar category to the Orange, with the Bruins boasting a 5-3 record after losing close to a depleted UConn team. Ohio State can and likely should win this game, but if this is another bad loss, the expectations for the Buckeyes should be dropped down a notch.
Michigan State @ Florida Gulf Coast, Monday (12/20), 11 a.m. – FloHoops
While this one is technically next week, it takes place early enough on Monday where I need to tell you now.
Michigan State, to this point, has proven me right: This a good, not great team that needs to have more than Nia Clouden contributing. And so far, Clouden has done quite a strong portion of the contributions, and Florida Gulf Coast is a team that will make MSU pay for that.
The Eagles are more built to be carried by one player. Former Ohio State transfer Kierstan Bell is one of the best players in the nation and is averaging 26.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game while shooting 50.0 percent from the field. There aren’t a ton of great answers for her as she can beat you to the rim and from deep (though she’s struggled from three early this season).
This could be a matchup between two stars, but Michigan State will need more than Clouden’s prowess to get past the Eagles.
On Thursday: My Top 50 Songs of the Year
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