Maryland men’s basketball wins consecutive conference games in 77-70 victory over Iowa

Photo by Kevin Snyder/Maryland Terrapins. Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

For the first time since Nov. 24, Maryland men’s basketball are victors of consecutive games.

In their first conference game of the season on Dec. 6, the Terps fell to Iowa by nearly 20 points. On Wednesday night, Maryland avenged their prior loss, defeating Iowa 77-70 at the Xfinity Center in College Park.

“When you get your teeth kicked in a lot, you have to take what comes with that,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “But you also have to have the endurance to show up and figure out how to fight through things that are tough.”

Maryland (10-14, 3-10 Big Ten) started the game in a peculiar fashion, attempting 3-pointers on all of its first eight shots. The Terps hit two of those shots and would not attempt a two-point shot until the 14:42 mark. 

The Terps’ offensive struggles didn’t end there. They had another scoring drought that lasted nearly five minutes. During that drought, Maryland only attempted three shots. 

In past games with similar rough starts on offense, things quickly fell out of Maryland’s favor. On Wednesday, the Terps’ defense was stout. The unit consistently made things difficult for the Hawkeyes (18-7, 8-6 Big Ten), who never led by more than three all night. 

When Maryland regained its offensive rhythm, it did so in dramatic fashion. The Terps closed the first half shooting seven-for-nine from the field and took a five-point lead into the locker room — just the eighth time this season in which Maryland led at halftime.

But the Hawkeyes, who finished as the first team out in Monday’s AP poll, regrouped well coming out of the halftime break. The second half featured four lead changes and three ties. Iowa’s comeback bid was led by senior guard Bennett Stirtz, who finished as the game’s leading scorer with 32 points. 

A theme for the Terps as of late has been playing with more confidence, and Wednesday’s contest was the best example. 

“We’re all under one thought process right now of just playing all the way to the end,” senior forward Collin Metcalf said. “Sometimes there’d be games where it may not be clicking all the way … We’ve learned that no matter what’s happening, you’ve gotta keep playing with heart. You’ve gotta play all 40 minutes.”

That mentality was evident in guard Andre Mills, who played 39 minutes and 40 seconds on Wednesday. The redshirt freshman finished with a career-high 24 points, marking just the second time he’s led the team in points. 

“[Andre] … he’s tough man,” freshman guard Darius Adams said. “Him going downhill, it’s hard to stop. It’s great having him as a teammate, I love him and I’m happy for him. He makes us all better.”

The Terps’ cohesiveness on both ends showed from the tip to the final buzzer, highlighted by surrendering just 10 points to the Hawkeyes in the final five minutes. 

Despite recording 10 more turnovers than the Hawkeyes, the Terps finished the game leading in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, rebounds, bench points, and blocks.

While a late March Madness bid is still unlikely, Maryland refuses to quit. It will look to keep things rolling on their final extended road trip of the season, when it heads to Piscataway to play Rutgers.