No. 17-seed Maryland men’s basketball outlasted by No. 9-seed Iowa, 75-64, in season-ending Big Ten Tournament loss
· Yahoo Sports
As No. 17-seed Maryland men’s basketball prepared for the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, its dominant first-round win spurred dreams of a Cinderella run.
After a strong first half Wednesday against No. 9-seed Iowa, those dreams looked increasingly possible. But they were shattered in the second half, when the Hawkeyes went on a 21-0 run.
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Iowa found success everywhere on the court through that streak, drilling 3-pointers over Maryland heads and bullying the Terps low in the paint. That run was too much to handle — Maryland saw its season end in a 75-64 defeat at United Center.
Maryland looked like a comprehensive basketball team against No. 16-seed Oregon, firmly beating the Ducks before easing off the gas. Iowa entered the second round having lost six of its previous eight games — a streak that began with a Maryland victory in College Park.
Oregon’s 12-point first half was historically bad, as much as the Terps’ relentless rotations contributed to the performance. It gave reason to believe that game could be an anomaly
But Maryland’s defense began with the same tenacity it displayed against the Ducks. Iowa began the game shooting 4-of-15 — the Terps flew around the court to contest shots and remained unmoved by Hawkeye ball screens.
And against the best defensive team in the Big Ten, the Terps ripped off a 15-0 run in under three minutes. It was sparked by the unlikeliest of catalysts: Isaiah Watts.
The junior displayed the shooting prowess that had been missing for most of his time in College Park. He bookended Maryland’s outburst with 3-pointers, finishing with three of them in the first half — his most in 20 games.
But outside of Watts and freshman Darius Adams, Maryland’s offense struggled to make inroads or even keep the ball. After turning the ball over just 10 times against Oregon, Maryland did so eight times before the break against Iowa. That kept the Hawkeyes in the game early — eight of their first 12 points came directly from turnovers.
The Terps also fell into a hallmark shooting slump, going just 1-for-12 in the final eight minutes of the first half as Iowa crawled back into the game.
What Iowa’s bigs comparatively lacked in size, they more than made up for in mobility. That allowed them to run circles around Collin Metcalf, who got hooked after looking lost multiple times in the first half.
Several players found success inside against Maryland. Iowa finished with 36 points in the paint.
But the biggest performer for Iowa was guard Cooper Koch, who scored a game-high 19 points. The Hawkeyes’ work inside freed him up outside; Koch made four of five second-half attempts from beyond the arc, each a timely dagger that nullified any Maryland momentum.
When Iowa star Bennett Stirtz made his first 3-pointer of the game, extending the lead to five, the game felt all but over. That was Iowa’s ninth unanswered point; there were 12 more to come on the game-defining run.
Maryland attempted one last push, cutting the deficit into single digits after Stirtz lost his sneaker at midcourt and George Turkson ran the other way for a layup.
But not even a Stirtz shoe explosion could derail the Hawkeyes, who snatched the silver slipper away from the Terps in a deflating end to their season.
Three things to know
1. Where was Andre Mills? The redshirt freshman became Maryland’s key player late in the season, consistently shouldering the scoring load with gritty plays and proficient 3-point shooting. He brought the grit to Chicago, but not the shooting.
Mills’ 3-of-13 night against Oregon was somewhat offset by his dropping into a playmaking role — he finished that game with five assists, tied for his season-high. But when he had just one assist and four turnovers against Iowa, his 1-of-13 shooting performance became a far more glaring issue.
2. Darius Adams’ Jekyll-and-Hyde game. Coming off the bench for the third straight game, Adams was an integral part of the Terps’ first-half fight. He made multiple crucial jumpers, and a ridiculous banked 3-pointer over a defender was Maryland’s only resistance before halftime.
But following the break, Adams became a liability. He turned the ball over twice after driving into the Iowa paint, leading to points for the Hawkeyes on the other end. He was targeted defensively as well, posing little resistance to Iowa’s more physical guards as the Hawkeyes pulled away.
3. Bench was necessary — but didn’t follow through. With Maryland coming off a game just 17 hours before, Watts and Adams said they believed fatigue was a factor, but not the contributing factor, in the Terps’ loss. Solomon Washington played his usual 39 minutes, but after him, only Collin Metcalf — who rarely plays that long — cleared the 30-minute mark on the court. Elijah Saunders went from 38 to 28 minutes, and Diggy Coit went from 32 to 26 minutes.