Maryland

What to Expect: IU basketball travels to Maryland

Published

2 months ago

January 6, 2026

What to Expect: IU basketball travels to Maryland

Indiana is back on the road for a matchup with Maryland on Wednesday night at the Xfinity Center. The Hoosiers, winners of three straight, are in search of their first road win this season.

The Terrapins are 7-7 and 0-3 under first-year coach Buzz Williams. Wednesday’s game is set for a 6:30 p.m. ET tipoff on BTN:

After a Sweet Sixteen appearance last season, Maryland was forced to completely flip its roster in the offseason when Kevin Willard left College Park for Villanova.

Injuries and inconsistent play have the Terps off to a slow start in the first season of the Buzz Williams era. Maryland is currently projected to finish 12-19 and 5-15 in the Big Ten, per KenPom.com.

Indiana, meanwhile, has been excellent at home and poor away from Bloomington. The Hoosiers beat a bad Marquette team in Chicago by 23 early in the season, but have lost their other three games away from Assembly Hall. IU fell by 9 to Minnesota, by 9 to Louisville in Indianapolis and by 12 to Kentucky in Lexington.

Winning on the road in the Big Ten is difficult, but the Hoosiers have solid opportunities for success away from Bloomington this month with trips to Maryland and Rutgers.

MEET THE TERRAPINS

Maryland’s leading scorer, big man Pharrel Payne, has missed three straight games after suffering a knee injury in a loss to Michigan in College Park on Dec. 13. Payne also missed a game on Nov. 19 against Mount St. Mary’s with a hip injury. Williams has not provided a definitive update on Payne’s status.

If he’s able to play, he’s a game-changer for the Terps with his 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds in 26.7 minutes per game.

Without Payne, Maryland is playing an undersized, guard-heavy lineup. Its two leading backcourt scorers are Kansas transfer David Coit, a senior, and freshman Darius Adams, who originally signed with UConn but reopened his recruitment and signed with the Terps last spring.

Coit (13.3 ppg) is a 5-foot-11 lead guard who has connected on a team-leading 37 3-pointers while shooting 42.5 percent from distance. He made eight 3-pointers in a 101-83 loss to No. 2 Michigan on Dec. 13. He’s also an excellent free-throw shooter (92.5 percent) and is the guy to circle on the scouting report for the Hoosiers. Strong closeouts and running Coit off the 3-point line are key for Indiana’s defense. Coit has started eight of Maryland’s 14 games but has come off the bench in the last two contests.

Adams, a 6-foot-5 native of New Jersey who finished his high school career at La Lumiere, has been a high-volume, low-efficiency player through the first 14 games of his career. Adams is third on the roster in scoring at 12.5 points per game but is shooting 36.8 percent on 2s and 25.4 percent on 3s.

Darius Adams and David Coit shot chart.

(Shot charts via UMHoops.com)

The rotation also features Washington State transfer Isaiah Watts, freshman Andre Mills and Indiana transfer Myles Rice.

The 6-foot-4 Mills is the leading scorer of that trio and has started 11 of 14 games. The No. 119 player in the 247Sports Composite in the 2024 class, Mills redshirted the 2024-25 season at Texas A&M and followed Williams to Maryland.

He has taken roughly half of his field goal attempts from distance and is shooting 26.3 percent on 3-pointers. Mills, who averages 8.9 points, has scored in double figures seven times and had a season-high 16 points against Alcorn State on November 11.

Watts spent the last two seasons at Washington State, where he was a teammate of Rice back in the 2023-24 campaign. He’s scored 28 points over the team’s last two games, which are two of his three double-figure scoring games this season. Watts averages 6.2 points and shoots 32.7 percent from distance.

Rice missed time early in the season with an ankle injury and has made three starts across 10 games. He’s 8-for-21 from distance (38.1 percent), 16-for-40 on 2s (40 percent) and has missed one of his 24 free throw attempts.

Andre Mills and Isaiah Watts shot chart.

Up front, the Terps go with 6-foot-7 senior Solomon Washington, a Texas A&M transfer, and 6-foot-8 senior Elijah Saunders, a Virginia transfer.

Washington missed the first eight games of the season with an ankle injury but made his season debut against Wagner on December 2. He’s scored in double figures three times in six games and had a season-high 17 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots in a 64-54 home loss to Oregon on January 2. Washington has 23 offensive rebounds in six games and has to be accounted for when shots go up. Washington is averaging 10 points and nine rebounds in 28.5 minutes per game.

Saunders began his career at San Diego State, where he was a part of NCAA tournament teams in 2023 and 2024. He’s capable of stretching the floor – 15-for-39 on 3s – but isn’t a great finisher in the paint. Saunders is shooting just 46.2 percent on 2s.

Freshman George Turkson, a 6-foot-7 forward, has started two games and had eight points in 32 minutes in the Michigan loss. And 6-foot-9 senior Collin Metcalf, a transfer from Northeastern, plays spot minutes in the frontcourt but has scored just 10 points total across 13 games.

TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW

(All national rankings in parentheses through Monday’s games.)

Tempo-free stats preview for IU-Maryland.

The Maryland offensive profile shows a high-volume 3-point shooting team that is below average in its percentage. Maryland is taking 44.9 percent of its field goal attempts from distance, ranking 81st nationally, and shooting 32.8 percent from deep, ranking 211th nationally.

Pounding the offensive glass and getting to the free-throw line are keys for Maryland. The Terps rank 103rd in offensive rebounding percentage and 28th in free-throw rate (FTA/FGA).

Maryland is generating 26.3 percent of its points from the line, which is eighth-best in the country. Defending without fouling will be pivotal for IU’s success, which has been a problem away from home. Minnesota got to the line 27 times against IU, Louisville 28 times, and Kentucky had 38 free throw attempts.

Defensively, Maryland does a solid job forcing turnovers, ranking 83rd nationally in opponent turnover percentage. Opponents are shooting 36.9 percent on 3s (315th nationally) and 52.9 percent (221st nationally), which means the Hoosiers will have opportunities for quality looks. In IU’s three losses, it is shooting 23-for-85 (27.1 percent) from 3.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO

The KenPom projection has Indiana by seven with a 73 percent chance of victory and Bart Torvik has the Hoosiers by 10 with an 82 percent chance of victory.

If Payne returns, the Terps will be a different team in the frontcourt and will present significant problems on the offensive glass. Even if he remains sidelined, Indiana’s play away from Bloomington this season suggests this game will be more difficult than the analytics project.

Simply put, the Hoosiers have not yet proven they can win on the road and haven’t been able to shoot the ball well or keep opponents off the free-throw line in their losses. Life on the road in the Big Ten is difficult but if the Hoosiers aspire to be an NCAA tournament team, this is a game they need to win.

(Photo credit: Maryland Athletics)

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Maryland

Maryland, California men plead guilty in auto-repair shop drug trafficking case

Published

2 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Maryland, California men plead guilty in auto-repair shop drug trafficking case

MARYLAND (WBFF) — A Maryland man and his California accomplice both pled guilty to drug trafficking charges involving the concealment of drugs within auto parts at a repair shop, the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Authorities reported that Norville Clarke, 56, of Clarksburg, Maryland, and Daniel Cruz, 39, of Los Angeles, California, were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

In 2023, an investigation targeted a drug trafficking organization that was transporting and distributing large quantities of cocaine from California to Maryland.

The investigation began after police seized a parcel containing approximately two kilograms of cocaine that was mailed from Los Angeles with an intended delivery to Clarke’s auto-repair shop in District Heights, Maryland.

ALSO READ | Gwynn Oak man sentenced to 3 years in federal prison for passport fraud, ID theft

During the investigation, Cruz was linked to the narcotics in the parcel, as well as to its source, authorities reported.

In January 2024, postal inspectors, along with other investigators, identified a freight shipment from Los Angeles intended for delivery at Clarke’s auto-repair shop, and officials said surveillance footage showed Cruz dropping off that shipment at a shipping company in California.

After that, authorities observed Cruz traveling to Maryland to track the shipment’s delivery.

Cruz and Clarke were then seen by investigators meeting at the auto-repair shop several days after the shipment occurred.

Investigators tracked the fright shipment to Dulles, Virginia, where authorities executed a search warrant and recovered two automobile transmissions inside, as well as 20 one-kilogram bricks secreted in both transmissions.

Officials reported that laboratory forensic tests confirmed that the bricks were over 16 kilograms of cocaine.

A search warrant was then also executed for Clarke’s District Heights auto-repair shop, Clarke’s Clarksburg residence, and Cruz’s hotel room in Capitol Heights, Maryland.

ALSO READ | Baltimore man sentenced to over 10 years for gun, ammunition possession as felon

At the auto repair shop, officials recovered 502.4 grams of cocaine, and then at Clarke’s residence, officers found two-kilogram bricks of cocaine and $45,730 in cash.

Furthermore, investigators later found another nine historical freight shipments that resembled the original shipment containing cocaine, which Cruz sent to Clarke’s auto repair shop.

In plea agreements, officials said both defendants agreed to have been involved in possessing around 22 kilograms of cocaine in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy.

Both also face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum life in prison, followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release

Cruz’s sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, June 18, at 1 p.m., and the sentencing for Clarke is scheduled for Friday, July 24, at 10 a.m.

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Maryland

‘Born to be resilient’; Maryland native living in Israel watches war unfold

Published

14 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

‘Born to be resilient’; Maryland native living in Israel watches war unfold

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — The State Department is securing military planes and charter flights for Americans to return home from the Middle East, officials announced Tuesday.

More than 9,000 people have left over the past few days, including 3,000 from Israel, according to a press release.

However, some Americans are staying put. That includes one young woman who is now living through her second war abroad.

ALSO READ | Middle East expert says uncertain future in Iran could be just as dangerous

“It’s a big decision to move across the world,” Rachel Cone said. She spoke with 7News’ Lianna Golden via Zoom from her home near Jerusalem.

The 28-year-old from Darnestown wasn’t afraid to leave the life she always knew.

“I grew up on a small farm in Montgomery County,” Cone said. “I spent my whole life there, the youngest of four kids, spent most of my life riding horses all around the DMV.”

Soon after college, she found her calling.

I decided to fulfill that dream, really live a Jewish life in the Jewish homeland.

Cone moved to Israel only six months before the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. So when she heard the sirens go off on Saturday morning after the joint attack on Iran, waking up to an emergency alert on her phone, she knew what was coming next.

“It was saying like, hey, this is your warning. The attack is starting. Go make sure you’re in your safe space.”

She says the sirens sound very often.

“A lot, a lot. I don’t know how many; there’s been a lot,” Cone explained.

The DMV native said she’s learned to stay calm in chaos, even when others are afraid.

Today I had to go to the grocery store. It wasn’t like I was doing anything crazy. There’s a siren – OK, all of a sudden you have a bunch of people all together, a bunch of strangers, and yeah, some people panic. Some people are calm. Some stranger you’ve never met is telling everyone hey it’s okay, calm down… Living in Israel teaches you a lot about resilience. The people here who have grown up their whole life here, they’re just born to be resilient.

It’s a resilience she sends back home.

“When you live in a war zone, every parent is concerned, even more so when they’re not here. I’m always sending my family pictures of like, hey, I’m still going outside, like I’m still seeing the sun. I’m not locked inside, like it’s OK. Everything is OK,” Cone said.

As the conflict continues, she prays for harmony while uncertainty grows.

“We want to see people of every faith, obviously living the life that they wanna live and not succumbing to any sort of terror,” Cone said. “Let’s work towards peace, and let’s try to see that happen. This is a start for sure.”

Dylan Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs, said American citizens should call 1-202-501-4444 for assistance with departure options.

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Top 25 Maryland Boys High School Basketball State Rankings – March 3, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

With a chance to make history, Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the new No. 1 team in the High School on SI Maryland boys basketball Top 25 rankings.

The Cougars (30-10) will try for a second straight Baltimore Catholic League (BCL) Tournament championship Wednesday evening against Saint Frances Academy at Loyola University of Maryland. No team has won the BCL tourney and the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) A Conference titles in back-to-back seasons.

The MIAA, whose membership includes most of the private and parochial schools in the Baltimore metro area, started in 1995 following the dissolution of the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA). The MSA governed athletic competition for Baltimore public and private and parochial schools before the public schools left to join the Maryland state public athletic association (MPSSAA) in 1992.

Saint Frances, last week’s No. 1 which lost to Mount Carmel in the MIAA A final, is No. 2. DeMatha Catholic, Mount Saint Joseph and Springdale Prep round out the Top 5.

The second 5 includes Charles Herbert Flowers, Mount Zion Prep Academy, Bishop McNamara, Georgetown Prep and Archbishop Spalding. Lackey, which won the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference title last week, returns to poll at No. 21.

In addition to the BCL Tournament finale, the Maryland Private Schools State Tournament continues with the Division A semifinals Tuesday at DeMatha with Bishop McNamara taking on Springdale Prep, and DeMatha playing defending champ and No. 17 Clinton Grace Christian School.

No. 16 Takoma Academy plays Saint James School in a Division B semifinal. The state public playoffs continue with region semifinal and final competition.

Here’s this week’s High School on SI Maryland boys basketball Top 25:

Previous rank: No. 3

Record: 30-10

The Cougars defeated No. 4 Mount Saint Joseph, 59-40, in the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament semifinals and Saint Mary’s in the quarterfinals (53-46) after a 69-67 overtime victory over then-No. 1 Saint Frances Academy in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) A Conference final at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

Previous rank: No. 1

Record: 35-7

The Panthers defeated then-No. 13 Archbishop Spalding, 61-58, in the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament semifinals and Loyola Blakefield in the quarterfinals (74-57), after a loss to then-No. 3 Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the MIAA A Conference title game.

Previous rank: No. 2

Record: 22-9

The Stags defeated then-No. 9 Glenelg Country School, 63-50, in the Maryland Private School State Tournament Division A quarterfinals.

Previous rank: No. 4

Record: 31-7

The Gaels lost then-No. 3 Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament semifinals after a 80-66 win over Calvert Hall College in the quarterfinals.

SEASON COMPLETE – BALTIMORE CATHOLIC LEAGUE TOURNAMENT & MARYLAND INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION A CONFERENCE SEMIFINALIST

Previous rank: No. 6

Record: 26-5

The Lions defeated No. 7 Mount Zion Prep Academy, 67-63, in the Maryland Private School State Division A semifinals.

Previous rank: No. 8

Record: 21-0

The Jaguars defeated Largo, 62-57, in the Prince George’s County championship game.

Previous rank: No. 7

Record: 19-6

The Warriors lost to then-No. 6 Springdale Prep in the Maryland Private School State Division A quarterfinals

SEASON COMPLETE – MARYLAND PRIVATE SCHOOL STATE TOURNAMENT DIVISION A QUARTERFINALIST

Previous rank: No. 12

Record: 14-19

The Mustangs defeated then-No. 5 Georgetown Prep, 59-53, in the Maryland Private Schools State Division A quarterfinals and Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School in the opening round.

Previous rank: No. 5

Record: 17-9

The Little Hoyas lost to then-No. 12 Bishop McNamara in the Maryland Private School State Tournament Division A quarterfinals.

SEASON COMPLETE – INTERSTATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPION & MARYLAND PRIVATE SCHOOL STATE TOURNAMENT DIVISION A QUARTERFINALIST

Previous rank: No. 13

Record: 20-14

The Cavaliers lost to then-No. 1 Saint Frances Academy in the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament semifinals after a 74-53 win over then-No. 10 John Carroll School in the quarterfinals.

SEASON COMPLETE – BALTIMORE CATHOLIC LEAGUE TOURNAMENT & MARYLAND INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION A CONFERENCE SEMIFINALIST

Previous rank: No. 9

Record: 17-10

The Dragons lost to then-No. 2 DeMatha Catholic in the quarterfinals of the Maryland Private School State Division A tournament after an 81-77 opening round win over then-No. 15 Our Lady of Good Counsel.

SEASON COMPLETE – MARYLAND INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION A CONFERENCE SEMIFINALIST & MARYLAND PRIVATE SCHOOL STATE TOURNAMENT DIVISION A QUARTERFINALIST

Previous rank: No. 14

Record: 23-1

The Mustangs defeated Severn Run, 72-49, in the Maryland Class 4A East Region I semifinals.

Previous rank: No. 16

Record: 20-3

The Bengals defeated Springbrook, 85-66, in the Maryland Class 4A North Region II semifinals after beating Walt Whitman, 67-55, in the Montgomery County championship game.

Previous rank: No. 17

Record: 20-2

The Colonels defeated Rockville, 74-61, in the Maryland Class 3A West Region II semifinals.

Previous rank: No. 19

Record: 21-3

The Knights defeated Northeast, 73-61, in the Maryland Class 3A East Region I semifinals and Edmondson-Westside, 66-58, in the Baltimore City final.

Previous rank: No. 18

Record: 26-7

The Tigers defeated Hebrew Academy, 88-33, in the Maryland Private School State Division B quarterfinals.

Previous rank: No. 24

Record: 27-18

The Eagles defeated then-No. 11 Bullis School, 56-48, in the Maryland Private School State Division A quarterfinals.

Previous rank: No. 10

Record: 22-10

The Patriots lost to then-No. 13 Archbishop Spalding in the quarterfinals of the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament.

Previous rank: No. 13

Record: 20-10

The Bulldogs lost to then-No. 24 Clinton Grace Christian School in the Maryland Private Schools State Division A quarterfinals after defeating then-No. 22 Riverdale Baptist School in the first round.

SEASON COMPLETE – INTERSTATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SEMIFINALIST & MARYLAND PRIVATE SCHOOL STATE TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALIST

Previous rank: No. 15

Record: 15-14

The Falcons lost to No. 9 Glenelg Country School in the opening round of the Maryland Private School State Tournament.

WASHINGTON CATHOLIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANT & MARYLAND PRIVATE SCHOOL STATE TOURNAMENT DIVISION A PARTIPICANT

Previous rank: Not ranked

Record: 20-3

The Chargers defeated Maurice J. McDonough, 61-46, in the Maryland Class 2A South Region II semifinals and then-No. 20 Great Mills, 62-59, in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference (SMAC) championship game.

Previous rank: No. 20

Record: 21-3

The Hornets defeated Saint Charles, 70-54, in the Maryland Class 3A South Region II semifinals, and lost to Lackey in the SMAC title game.

Previous rank: No. 21

Record: 16-14

SEASON COMPLETE – METRO PRIVATE SCHOOL CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALIST

Previous rank: No. 22

Record: 15-11

The Crusaders lost to then-No. 11 Bullis School in the opening round of the Maryland Private School State tournament.

SEASON COMPLETE – METRO PRIVATE SCHOOL CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALIST & MARYLAND PRIVATE SCHOOL STATE TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANT

Previous rank: No. 23

Record: 21-10

The Mustangs won the Maryland Christian School Tournament championship, defeating The Heritage Academy, 65-53, in the final, and King’s Christian Academy in the semifinals (65-59).

SEASON COMPLETE – MARYLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL TOURNAMENT CHAMPION

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