Maryland men's basketball humbled vs. Iowa, fall 83-64 to drop to 6-4 overall

Chase King
Dec 6, 2025
4 min read

Maryland started conference play on the road against Iowa, where the Terps were routed in an 83-64 loss, which Maryland led for less than a minute total.

Maryland entered the game with nobody on the injury report for the first time. Redshirt freshman George Turkson Jr. was available for the Terps for the first time since November 11 against Alcorn State.

Solomon Washington was also available for the second straight game after being sidelined for the first month of the season.

“The last four days of work are the first time we've had ten healthy bodies. We don't know what the rotation is or what the rotation should be,” said Head Coach Buzz Williams.

The only player that the Terps were missing was Rakease Passmore, who remains out for the season due to a torn Achillies suffered during summer workouts.

Maryland entered the game desperate for a good win, currently ranked 172nd in the NET and 91st on KenPom.

They had their third chance to get a Quad One win, and failed for the third time, now outscored 288-197 in those three games.

Maryland rolled out the same starting lineup as they did in their win against Wagner: freshman guard Darius Adams, redshirt junior Myles Rice, senior Elijah Saunders, senior Solomon Washington, and senior Pharrel Payne.

Iowa’s offense was the story of the first half as they took off instantly, going 11-for-14 out of the gate, including 6-for-6 from behind the arc.

Iowa’s senior guard Bennett Stritz was the person to watch coming into the game, averaging 18 points and five assists per game, and being a projected first-round pick.

Stritz would show that early knocking in 13 points in the first 8:16 of the game, outscoring all of Maryland at that point. He had shot 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-6 from three in the first half.

Stritz ended the game scoring 25 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He finished the game shooting 10-for-17 from the field and 4-for-8 from three.

Maryland’s offense started slowly, only scoring nine points in the first 7:46 of the game. The lack of offense stemmed from a lack of good looks.

Iowa defended the entry pass to Payne in the post, and when Payne did get the ball, they would send a double team, which led to turnovers or missed shots.

Iowa would get out to a big 33-15 lead with 9:33 left in the second half. They were shooting 13-for-17 from the field at that point.

Maryland’s offense started to come alive halfway through the first half, as the defense began to tighten up, allowing the Terps to get an 11-3 run going, which helped bring Maryland's deficit to 10 points with four minutes left in the second half.

Despite that, the offense stalled to end the half, and Iowa entered the break up 44-30 after outscoring the Terps 8-4 over the last four minutes.

Iowa would enter the break shooting 17-for-31 (54.8%) from the field and 8-for-13 (61.5%) from three.

Maryland struggled on offense, seeing a return of the turnover problems that had plagued them earlier in the year.

The Terps finished the game with 18 turnovers, which led to Iowa scoring 21 points off turnovers. Iowa contested the catch point on the Terps' entry passes and put pressure on all of the Terps' ball handlers, which helped lead to bad passes and live-ball turnovers.

“We did not play as hard or as together as we have to,” said Williams.

The Terps had averaged 13.4 turnovers per game entering the game, but that number dropped to 8.5 in their last two games.

In the second half, Maryland would come out flat again, while Iowa ran away with the game.

Maryland opened the second half, shooting 3-for-13 while turning the ball over six times. Iowa opened the second half shooting 5-for-9, giving them a 58-33 lead early.

From that point on, Maryland’s offense was able to get on the board, mainly from the free-throw line, but any effort from the Terps would be too late.

“We did a great job of getting fouled in that stretch. We didn't do a great job of making our free throws, but we did a really good job of putting pressure on the rim in that last 15 minutes of the game,” said Williams.

Maryland ended the second half with 26 free-throw attempts, with Adams getting 10 of them.

Adams finished with eight points after missing most of the first half due to two early fouls.

Payne led the Terps in scoring with 17 points. He took 18 total free throws but would only sink 9 of them, despite entering the game as a 77% free-throw shooter.

Senior Diggy Coit was second on the Terps in scoring. He had 13 points coming off the bench, after shooting 3-for-6 from three.

The Terps will now have a week break before they take on No. 3 Michigan at home Saturday.

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