After dominating opponents inside Xfinity Center and struggling on the road in Kevin Willard’s first season as head coach, Maryland found a way to pull off its second road win in its last three games after a game-winning layup from Jahmir Young elevated the Terps over Iowa, 69-67. After posting seven turnovers in Sunday’s loss vs. Michigan State and shooting just 1-of-6 from the field while playing every minute of the first half against Iowa, Jahmir Young settled in when Maryland needed him most. The star guard scored nearly half of Maryland's points in the second-half, including eight points over the final 84 seconds, as he and the Terps outscored Iowa, 12-4, over the final 3:07. “He struggled last game and he was a little upset about that,” Willard said postgame. “He struggled in the first half and I just kept, I’m like, ‘Jahmir come on, babe. Like, it’s gonna click, just keep playing. You’re playing too hard, you’re playing too well.’ And I think the big thing was he got fouled on one of the layups pretty hard and it kind of, it made him mad. Jahmir doesn’t get mad.” Young has proved himself as Maryland’s clear-cut leader on the court after averaging over 28 points in his last four road games and 20 or more points in nine of the last 12 games he’s been made available, all while doing so among the most utilized players with Young leading the Big Ten in percentage of possible minutes played (92%). Maryland's defense has steadied the ship through the offensive woes that have plagued Willard's team all season with the Terps sitting in the top-15 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (95.2) and two-point field goal defense (43.3%), per KenPom. So after either trailing or tied with Iowa for nearly 36 minutes on Wednesday night and down by as many as ten points, Maryland leaned on what it does best: defense. Maryland entered Wednesday with the Big Ten’s best scoring defense and it showed after holding the Hawkeyes without a field goal for the final 5:44 with Iowa’s 67 points the fewest points scored since facing Iowa State back on Dec. 7. The second-half adjustment from Maryland’s backcourt on the Tony Perkins’ screens, who scored all but three of his second-half points from the free-throw line, loomed largest in Iowa City. “We started icing them, trying to keep them on the sideline a little bit. I just said, guys, we just got to dive under this stuff right now,” head coach Kevin Willard said about his team’s second-half adjustments. “I said is playing 37 minutes. I’m like we can’t have him guard and pick-and-rolls. I’m like dive under, switch late, take out the big guy’s knees, switch late, make him take a tough two, which number two wasn’t going to do on Ju. So we started switching the pick and roll real late and just, once we kind of got solid and kept guys in front of us, they had a hard time getting a shot.” Similar problems resurfaced against Iowa, though, as Maryland finished with just six bench points and 14 turnovers turning into 11 points for Iowa. After failing to score against Michigan State, Jordan Geronimo struggled with foul trouble after picking up his fourth less than five minutes into the second half and primarily playing the final three minutes of the game after Iowa forward Owen Freeman fouled out. DeShawn Harris-Smith added six points, though picked up all four fouls in the second half. Jamie Kaiser Jr. finished with his fourth consecutive scoreless performance after missing all four shot attempts but added a pair of steals with his second sparking the possession for Maryland's late-game turnaround. One bright spot was the Terps' finishing nearly 47% from three with Jahmir Young leading the way with three made threes paired with Donta Scott and Jahari Long each adding a pair of threes. Still, Wednesday's win proved the Terps will need to lean on the veteran trio through the final eleven regular-season games. The latest win has fans peeking at the schedule once more with February approaching. KenPom's current projection of a 17-14 (9-11) finish would mean a Big Ten Tournament win would be Maryland's final chance, an event the Terps are 4-8 all-time. Wednesday’s win pushes Maryland to 3-4 in true road games and 2-4 in Quad One games this season with a chance to pick up its first Quad Two win when Nebraska heads to College Park for a noon tipoff on Saturday. Maryland also currently has two ranked teams left on its schedule, first a return trip against Illinois set for Feb. 17 in College Park then a trip to Madison to face the 13th-ranked Badgers on Feb. 20. Northwestern, fresh off its second win over a top-ten opponent, gives the Terps another potential quality opponent as they inch closer to Quad One status ahead of the Feb. 28 matchup in College Park. Maryland will look to build on its road success when it returns home to host Nebraska for a noon tipoff on Saturday. “Fred’s got his team playing really well. They’re spacing the floor out really well. The big kid is playing fantastic. I thought they were going to take a big loss when they lost their center last year, but this kid stepped in and really revitalized their offense. And defensively, they zone out so much. He plays a, it’s a one-side defense where they just try to keep the ball on one side, post play hard. Obviously we’ve got to travel back, get in late tonight, have a light day tomorrow and really Friday is going to be our only preparation day because it’s a noon game. We gotta get a home . We gotta have a good crowd and we gotta protect home court the rest of the way.” Related Links
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