COLLEGE PARK — Maryland men’s basketball led Indiana by as many as 16 points in the second half of its regular-season home finale on Sunday. It still wasn’t enough.
Hoosiers freshman forward Mackenzie Mgbako scored 18 points in the final 20 minutes and Indiana rallied for an 83-78 victory as Maryland fell to .500 on the season.
Fifth-year seniors Donta Scott and Jahmir Young hit back-to-back 3s to cut the Terps’ deficit to five points with less than two minutes remaining, but it wasn’t enough on senior day.
After shooting 51.5% from the field in the first half, Maryland (15-15, 7-12 Big Ten) shot just 41.7% in the second. Indiana (15-14, 8-10) improved as the game progressed and shot a lights-out 73.1% from the floor after halftime.
The Terps led by 16 points after Young completed a three-point play 2:09 into the second half for a 51-35 lead. It didn’t take long for Indiana to rally.
Five straight made baskets for the Hoosiers cut Maryland’s lead to seven, and a 3-pointer-and-one from Mackenzie Mgbako made it 60-58 with 11:08 left. Mgbako scored 14 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, including 10 straight, and Indiana tied the game at 64 with under nine minutes left. It took the lead one possession later on a putback layup from senior guard Trey Galloway and pulled away from there. Its lead stretched to 11 points with four minutes remaining.
“He got hot from three,” Young said of Mgbako. “We didn’t do a great job in transition defense. He had a great game.”
Mgbako finished with a career-high 24 points and scored most of his points in transition, an area in which Maryland struggled in the second half as it committed seven turnovers.
Young said Indiana emphasized scoring in transition down the stretch, often getting multiple players up the court for easy baskets.
“Our turnovers [didn’t] put us in a position to get back fast enough,” Young said. “Depending on where we turn the ball over, it’s hard to get back.”
Scott and Young hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Terps and cut the deficit to 77-72 inside the final two minutes, but Indiana scored the next five points to ice it.
Each team traded runs early. An 11-0 run gave Maryland a 17-9 advantage but Indiana responded with an 11-2 run. The Terps had an answer and scored the next 12 points for a 29-20 lead.
“We got the ball popping, made the right reads,” said Scott, who made a couple of big 3-pointers to give Maryland its early lead. “We had a lot of guys that were being aggressive.”
Scott went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half and Young led all scorers with 12 points at the break.
Junior forward Julian Reese capped off the first half with a putback dunk for Maryland, which took the largest lead of the game — 43-33 — into halftime.
Reese finished the first half with 11 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. But he struggled in the second half and finished the game with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Maryland coach Kevin Willard credited Hoosiers sophomore center Kel’el Ware for slowing down Reese in the second half.
“If you watch the difference between him [in] early December now, he’s just he’s turned himself into a very, very good defender,” Willard said. “I mean, he just uses length.”
The result isn’t how Willard wanted Young and Scott to end their last game at Xfinity Center, but he’s proud of what they did for the future of Maryland basketball.
“They’ve laid down a foundation that will last that was not here last year,” Willard said. “That’s going to last a while.”
With the loss, the Terps are now 13th in the Big Ten standings. They will close the regular season next Sunday at Penn State before the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis begins March 13.
Regular-season finale
Maryland at Penn State
Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: 105.7 FM