Maryland Basketball: Terrapins snatch win over No. 3 Iowa
By Wesley Brown
The Maryland basketball team played with a purpose against No. 3 Iowa on Thursday night.
In doing so, the Terrapins snatched a 74-68 win over the Hawkeyes.
Forward Robert Carter paced Maryland with 17 points and seven rebounds, despite fouling out with 1:48 remaining. Guard Rasheed Sulaimon chipped in with some inspiring play as he also netted 17 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds.
For the first time in three games, the Terps held an advantage in the rebounding department with a 38-35 edge. Part of that had to do with the fact that Maryland was able to secure 10 offensive rebounds, which extended several possessions.
Forward Jake Layman also had a very productive outing as he scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked a pair of shots. Layman also set up center Diamond Stone with a beautiful pass for a slam dunk with 1:25 to go.
“We beat a really good team,” coach Mark Turgeon. “It reminds me a lot of the Wisconsin team from last year. They got a chance to do special things, but it was our night. It wasn’t easy for us, but we got it done.”
It was a back-and-forth affair in the second half with Iowa holding the lead on several occasions. The Terps were able to secure the lead with 6:48 to go on a jump shot by Carter.
Either Carter or Sulaimon scored on four consecutive possessions at that point, which gave Maryland a 59-56 lead.
With 2:17 left in the game, Carter fouled Iowa star Jarrod Uthoff and Uthoff connected on both free throws to cut the lead to 62-60. However, that was as close as the Hawkeyes would get in the final two minutes, despite some interesting basketball.
Carter picked up his fifth personal foul on a call that many questioned. As he was fighting for a loose ball, the Maryland junior was whistled and was forced to leave the game.
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This was just minutes after Iowa forward Adam Woodbury fouled out when he interfered with Sulaimon.
The Terps ended the game on a 12-7 run and it could’ve been more if not for some missed free throws. The Terps shot 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the charity stripe.
Certainly, one of the main reasons for the win was Maryland’s defense of Uthoff and guard Peter Jok. The dynamic duo only made seven of their 25 field goal attempts.
“He (Uthoff) wasn’t feeling it tonight,” Turgeon said. “We ran him off the line and he shot-faked and missed some pull-ups. Our guys were good. I thought we did an unbelieveable job on Jok. Jok’s a tremendous player and can really shoot it. Sheed was terrific defensively on him. Our team defense got better as the game went on.”
Iowa did have four players finish in double figures, but Uthoff only scored nine points on 2-of-13 shooting.
“They have a lot of dynamic scorers, especially him (Uthoff),” Layman said. “He can post up or shoot a three. We threw a lot of different guys at him tonight and in the end, I think we did a good job on him.”
The first half was just as competitive as the second stanza.
Maryland certainly came out playing with a purpose against Iowa. The Terrapins made two of their first three shots to jump out to a 6-2 lead, courtesy of a three-pointer from guard Melo Trimble and a three-point play from Carter off a beautiful Trimble assist.
Maryland fought out to a 10-9 lead at the first media timeout, but it seemed as if they were playing much better than their one point lead indicated. The Terps had already garnered two offensive rebounds in the opening minutes, which helped them take this control.
Coming out of the timeout, Carter would hit a huge two-point jumper that set Maryland up for a 7-3 run until the next media timeout. The outburst gave the Terps a 17-12 lead.
After this run, Maryland would find themselves in a tight affair with the Hawkeyes. Iowa would fight to make the game within one possession, but could not take any lead in the first half.
Carter and Sulaimon certainly would prove to be the work horses for Maryland in this game from the start. The two would combine for 20 of Maryland’s 41 points in the first half, which kept Maryland above water.
Iowa came out in the second half on a different tempo than in the first half, by adding in some fullcourt press with some quick transition baskets. Maryland’s inability to run with the Hawkeyes gave Iowa a 42-41 lead just three minutes into the half.
Maryland would regain composure in front of the wild Xfinity Center crowd, and start running again. Iowa would keep letting Maryland run, but never fully letting them out of their grasp. The lead would change nine times in this game with eight coming in the second half.
“I think we’re a very resilient group,” Layman said. “We learn from the losses. We were outrebounded last game, but beat them on the boards in this one.”