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Indiana Basketball: Hoosiers with big opportunity in front of them

By Adam Childs

COLLEGE PARK, MD - JANUARY 04: Chol Marial #15 of the Maryland Terrapins dribbles as De'Ron Davis #20 and Rob Phinisee #10 of the Indiana Hoosiers defend in the first half at Xfinity Center on January 4, 2020 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD - JANUARY 04: Chol Marial #15 of the Maryland Terrapins dribbles as De'Ron Davis #20 and Rob Phinisee #10 of the Indiana Hoosiers defend in the first half at Xfinity Center on January 4, 2020 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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The Indiana basketball team hosts Michigan State and Maryland this week with a chance to pick up two big wins in what could be a season-defining stretch for the Hoosiers.

Indiana returns home after a short two-game road trip in which they finally picked up a win in a true road game. After losing a tough game to Rutgers the Hoosiers beat Nebraska in Lincoln to gain a season sweep of the Cornhuskers. While that win was great to get a win away from Bloomington it still was a game they should win.

The Hoosiers are about to get tested at home as they host two top  20 opponents in Michigan State and Maryland. It is a big and important stretch for Indiana if they want to cement themselves as a tournament team.

Indiana won’t be on the outside looking in if they lose both, but if they could win both it could almost guarantee themselves a spot as long as they don’t go into a tailspin the rest of the year.

The knock on the Hoosiers so far this year has been their lack of quality wins. They do have a great win against Florida State at home and they also beat Ohio State, but that is where the good wins end. The win over the Buckeyes is even losing its shine because of the way they have played lately.

First, the Hoosiers get Michigan State on Thursday night as they look to beat the Spartans for the third straight time. Indiana upset MSU twice last year and hope that magic continues this year. The Spartans have looked very good lately except for the last time they traveled to the state of Indiana. Purdue beat Michigan State by 29 earlier this month. The Hoosiers hope they can do the same thing but in order to do that they will have to stop Cassius Winston.

Indiana then hosts Maryland on Sunday looking to gain some revenge after losing to the Terrapins on the road on January 4th. The Hoosiers looked like the better team for the first part of the game but then Maryland took control late in the first half and then dominated the second half. The Hoosiers proved they can play with the Terrapins, and they will need to put 40 minutes together if they want to pick up the win.

The Hoosiers have been a different team at home and they hope that continues when they play the Spartans and Terrapins this week. It would be their two biggest wins of the year if they could pull it off and would put them right at the top of the Big Ten with a chance to compete for a championship.

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In order to pull off the upsets, though, they will have to find a way to avoid their prolonged scoring slumps and to continue to play good defense.

The Hoosiers need to look at this week as an opportunity to show what kind of team they are instead of a rough stretch of the schedule. Its a week that could go badly or great, but either way its an important time for the Hoosier basketball team.

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