IU basketball's backcourt, matchups in frontcourt among things I'm watching vs. Maryland

Indiana survived its emotional three-game homestand with a 2-1 record and important wins against Purdue and Penn State but a painful loss to Michigan.

Now the Hoosiers (15-5 overall, 6-4 in the Big Ten) hit the road again to play Maryland (11-9, 3-6) at 2:30 p.m., Saturday. The Hoosiers finally got over the hump on the road with their win at Nebraska, but that's still their only road win in five tries. The Hoosiers haven't beaten Maryland in College Park since 1934, losing all four of the matchups there since Maryland joined the Big Ten in the 2014-15 season. The Terps have been through a tumultuous season with coach Mark Turgeon resigning in December and Danny Manning taking over as interim coach, but they posted impressive wins over Illinois and Rutgers in their past two games and might be hitting their stride.

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Here are three things I'll be watching for Saturday.

What does Indiana do in the backcourt?

Indiana appeared to dodge a bit of a bullet with news senior guard Rob Phinisee's injury isn't season-ending, but he won't be ready for Saturday's game. It remains to be seen if sophomore Khristian Lander is able to play, as coach Mike Woodson said he was not available Wednesday due to a leg issue.

Woodson confirmed on a Friday Zoom that Phinisee won't be available for Saturday's trip to Maryland, but that the senior "could be day to day." Phinisee is currently dealing with plantar fasciitis. Woodson also said Lander could be available on limited minutes against the Terrapins, though the Hoosiers wouldn't be certain of his status until the morning of the game.

Starting point guard Xavier Johnson has played his best basketball of the season in recent games, averaging 17 points, 4.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game in his past three contests while shooting 19-of-40 from the field (47.5%) and 5-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc. He's committed just four fouls and five turnovers in those games, which have allowed him to stay on the floor for 33 minutes per game. He is clearly playing like a man who can handle an increased burden, though he does have to keep it up.

Johnson presumably can't play 40 minutes every night, so somebody has to spell him at some point. Also, Phinisee wasn't just stepping in for Johnson at the point, he was also sharing the backcourt with him to give the Hoosiers better defensive lineups, especially against dribble penetration.

So the Hoosiers have to figure out how they make up for Phinisee's loss against a Maryland team that has dangerous guards. Senior Eric Ayala and Rhode Island transfer Fatts Russell lead the Terps in scoring with 16.3 and 13.1 points per game respectively. Both are three-level scorers who can get to the rim, score in the mid-range and hit from outside, with Ayala's 52 3-pointers putting him third in the conference behind only Illinois' Alfonso Plummer and Purdue's Sasha Stefanovic. Ayala and Russell are coming off a stellar performance against Rutgers in which they combined for 45 of Maryland's 68 points.

This would ordinarily be a game in which Johnson and Phinisee would spend a lot of time on the floor together. Without him, whichever of Russell and Ayala that Johnson doesn't guard presents a very touch matchup for fellow backcourt starters Parker Stewart and Miller Kopp.

Presumably then, this game will ask a lot from sophomore Trey Galloway off the bench. At 6-5, he's proven to be Indiana's best option for defending wings, particularly bigger ones, Also, after Johnson, Phinisee and Lander he may be the team's best ball-handler. He has point guard experience from his time at Culver Academy, and he's third among guards behind Johnson and Phinisee with 1.7 assists per game. The Hoosiers will need a ton of minutes from Johnson and Galloway together, and when Johnson has to step off, Galloway appears to be the best bet to replace him. This might also mean some more minutes for Anthony Leal so the Hoosiers can take some weight off Galloway.

Trayce Jackson-Davis' matchup with Qudus Wahab

Indiana All-American center Trayce Jackson-Davis has sometimes struggled in the past with opposing centers who are taller or especially wider than he is. He's made progress in this regard — for instance, he was better against Penn State big man John Harrar on Wednesday than he was against him on Jan. 2. — but dealing with Purdue's Zach Edey and Trevion Williams last week put him in constant foul trouble. And he has had a tough time in each of his matchups with Illinois' Kofi Cockburn.

Maryland big man Qudus Wahab is another player who fits in this category, and Saturday will be Jackson-Davis' first matchup against him. Wahab, a native of Nigeria in his first year at Maryland after two years at Georgetown, is 6-11, 240 pounds and is averaging 8.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and shooting 57.7% from the field. He's sixth in the Big Ten in defensive rebound percentage and 10th in blocked shot percentage. At Georgetown with a higher usage rate, he averaged 12.7 points and 8.2 rebounds last season on a team that won the Big East tournament.

Jackson-Davis' numbers on the whole are better than Wahab's, as he's fifth in the Big Ten in scoring (18.4 ppg), third in rebounding (8.5 rpg), third in field goal percentage (60.2%) and first in blocked shots (2.8 per game). The Hoosiers could use a performance that doesn't just match Wahab's but overwhelms it, as the backcourt matchup could prove troublesome.

Race Thompson vs. Donta Scott

Maryland junior Donta Smith is 6-8, 230 pounds and a tough matchup with inside-outside skill and range beyond the 3-point arc. He's averaging 12.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and has 25 3-pointers to his name this year. He had scored in double figures in 10 straight games prior to finishing with three in the win over Rutgers. In the game prior, he scored 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting against Illinois.

So he's a tough cover, but he's also an obvious assignment for IU fifth-year senior forward Race Thompson, who specializes in defending forwards just like Scott. Thompson's perimeter defensive skills continue to improve, and he's always been a steady defensive force around the paint and on the glass. He's also coming off an excellent offensive performance himself, scoring 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers against Penn State. He's 6-of-31 from 3-point range on the year, but he's also made three of his last six.

Follow Herald-Times IU Insider Dustin Dopirak on Twitter at @DustinDopirak or email him at DDopirak@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball vs. Maryland Terps preview: What I'm watching