Nothing goes right at Iowa in Terps’ loss
Maryland trailed by 14 at half and never recovered
IOWA CITY, IOWA — There was plenty of reason to think No. 12 Maryland could make quick work of Iowa on Friday night.
The threat of the first major snowstorm of the winter kept many fans away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Terps were also the beneficiary of some favorable calls early in the game, and the undermanned Hawkeyes were turning the ball over at even higher rate than the Terps often do.
The game was decided quickly, but not in Maryland’s favor. The defense that the Terps played during their recent threegame winning streak — particularly in Wednesday’s win over No. 11 Ohio State — disappeared midway through the first half, as Iowa used a 19-2 run to build a 14-point halftime lead and win easily, .
Poor shooting from the field and, early on, from the free-throw line was compounded by 17 turnovers, a dozen in the first half AND many of them that the Hawkeyes had little to do with forcing.
Maryland (13-3, 3-2) hit just 16 of 51 field goals (31.4%) and 4 of 22 (18.2%) of its 3-pointers, and was11 of 20 from the line, including 8 of 16 in the first half.
It was the fewest points Maryland had scored in a Big Ten game since joining the league six years ago, coming against a team that has been wracked by injuries, including losing senior point Jordan Bohannon after 10 games with a recurrence of hip troubles, as well as starting redshirt freshman C.J. Frederick recently with an ankle sprain. The Hawkeyes have eight healthy scholarship
But the biggest culprit was Maryland’s defense. With the Hawkeyes having only two proven scorers in junior center Luka Garza, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, and sophomore wing Joe Wieskamp, the Terps got off to a good start against both before they got to their spots and found their touch.
Garza, missed his first three shots and had two of them blocked by Jalen Smith, but scored 14 by halftime and finished with 21. Wieskamp, who missed 9 of 10 3-pointers in a loss at Nebraska Tuesday, missed his only shot in the first nine minutes, then hit four straight 3s to score 18 of his career-high 26 points in the opening half.
The loss was the third on the road in as many games for the Terps. Smith led Maryland with 13 points and five rebounds, but after the two early blocks had trouble containing Garza, whose game-high 13 rebounds helped Iowa (11-5, 2-3) outrebound the Terps, 44-32. Wieskamp tied his career-high with 11 rebounds.
Coming on the heels of a 67-55 win over the Buckeyes, the defeat erased whatever momentum Maryland hoped to build during a stretch when the Terps have four of five games away from the Xfinity Center. Maryland plays at Wisconsin Tuesday.
Trailing 38-24 at halftime after Wieskamp’s 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left — the Hawkeyes hit their last three, two by Wieskamp and the other by Garza, who lofted a long 3 over 7-2 freshman center Chol Marial — the Terps seemed to have a chance to climb back into the game.
Having cut the deficit to 44-34, Cowan forced a pass into the post to Smith that was stolen by Garza and turned into a 3-point shot by redshirt senior Bakari Evelyn. Down11a couple of minutes later, after a steal by junior guard Darryl Morsell, sophomore guard Eric Ayala had his dunk attempt blocked by freshman guard Joe Toussaint, who was later fouled and made both free throws.