Maryland was able to bounce back from a slow start and was in a tightly contested game with Iowa for nearly 35 minutes, but the Hawkeyes pulled away in the final minutes as Maryland (8-5, 0-2) fell 80-75 at Iowa.
Hawkeyes take control early…After the two teams traded baskets to open the game, Iowa’s tempo and scoring quickly swarmed the Terps in the open court as the Hawkeyes used a 13-2 run to take control of the game early. Forward Keegan Murray, who entered the night the nation’s leading scorer, was the catalyst to the Hawkeye offense and was up to 14 points through the first seven minutes on 6-of-8 shooting.
Turning point…Behind a 24-12 lead, the Hawkeyes’ offense cooled off thanks to the Terps switching to a 2-3 zone while also flashing the full court press. The defensive adjustment from head coach Danny Manning paid dividends as the Terps turned the defensive prowess to offense, sparking an 8-0 run before Hakim Hart’s first made three brought the game to within one. Maryland’s defense continued to force Iowa out of their offensive flow as the Hawkeyes hit just three of their next ten shots, forcing Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery to use a timeout to give his team a reset. With the game tied at 30 with six minutes left in the first half, Maryland took their first lead of the game after Fatts Russell drained a deep three to cap off a 21-6 run. With a now 34-32 lead, Maryland turned back to the zone defense but this time a 3-2 zone as the Hawkeyes were forced to resort to deep, contested jumpers. But as Manning has already frequently referenced, the Terps turned to the paint touches for their final six points in the half to secure a 40-36 lead heading into halftime.
Tempo picks up to open second half…the two teams combined to shoot 9-of-13 to open the first half, but the Hawkeyes used back-to-back triples from Toussaint and Murray to tie the game at 47 in the opening minutes. The Hawkeyes again tied the game up at 49 before Fatts Russell connected with Qudus Wahab at the rim for a nice alley-oop heading into the first media timeout, giving Maryland back a two-point lead. But the Hawkeyes scoring would continue midway through the second half after Murray connected on another long ball, followed by the Hawkeyes turning a Wahab turnover into an easy layup on the other end. The Hawkeyes turned to the 2-3 zone coming out of the under-12 timeout and forced a kick out three-point miss from Donta Scott, preserving the 56-53 lead, before Xavier Green hit a clutch elbow jumper. The Hawkeyes reasserted their offensive identity, to be expected considered Iowa entered Monday night as the nation’s top scoring team. The same tempo that Iowa used to their advantage in the opening minutes helped guide the Hawkeyes through the opening stretch of the second-half, but Maryland couldn’t consistently respond this time. After hitting their first four shots, Maryland connected on just four of their next 15 field goal attempts as the production tailed off.
Danger zone…With Iowa clinging to a 59-58 lead with just under eight minutes remaining, it felt as if Maryland was approaching the danger zone in the first road matchup of their Big Ten conference slate. The Hawkeyes’ offensive spark sent them on a 9-2 run before a triple from Donta Scott cut the lead back to five. Maryland, again, turned to the zone defense but this time to no avail as Murray found his way into the Terps’ low post with his own answer. After Fatts turned it over with just under four minutes and a 70-63 deficit, time looked like it was beginning to run out, but the Hawkeyes’ poor free throw shooting kept the Terps in the game down the stretch.
After the Hawkeyes missed the front end of the 1-and-1, Hakim Hart’s floater rattled off the rim to maintain a seven-point deficit, but Maryland caught a break when Ayala drew a foul call on a three-point shot to trim the deficit to 70-66. But it would be none other than Keegan Murray who would come up with the timely putback, putting Iowa up 76-70 with 32 seconds left to put a dagger in Maryland’s chances. A deep three from Ayala cut the deficit to just two and after Bohannon hit a pair of free-throws, Iowa took away Maryland’s opportunity to tie the game after intentionally fouling in the double-bonus. But Ayala would miss the first attempt, then miss the rim on his second attempt to seal Maryland’s fate in their first road contest.
Top performers:
Eric Ayala: 19 pts (5-of-11), 6 reb, 3 asst
Hakim Hart: 11 pts (3-of-10), 8 reb, 1 asst
Qudus Wahab: 12 pts (5-of-6), 7 reb, 1 asst
Fatts Russell: 16 pts (7-of-15), 4 reb, 4 asst
Next: Maryland will play at Illinois on Thursday, January 6 for a 7 PM tipoff.