The University of Iowa men’s basketball team lost to Maryland, 77-70, on Wednesday at the XFINITY Center. The defeat ended Iowa’s six-game winning streak and marked their first road loss after three consecutive away victories. The Hawkeyes now have an 18-6 overall record and are 8-5 in conference play.
Iowa started the game trailing but took an early lead with a 7-0 run. Both teams traded leads throughout the first half, but Maryland closed with a 10-5 run to enter halftime ahead, 37-32. Senior Bennett Stirtz led Iowa in the opening period with 13 points, shooting efficiently from both the field and three-point range. Senior Tavion Banks contributed eight points, four rebounds, and two assists before halftime.
Early in the second half, Maryland increased its lead to seven points. Iowa responded with a tying three-pointer from Stirtz and later took a brief lead following back-to-back threes by senior Brendan Hausen. However, Maryland regained control with an 8-0 run late in the game and maintained their advantage until the final buzzer.
Stirtz finished as the game’s top scorer with 32 points and six assists, making more than half his shots from the field and hitting four three-pointers. Banks added 13 points and eight rebounds for Iowa. As a team, Iowa shot just over 42 percent from the field but struggled from long distance, converting only seven of 28 attempts.
After the game, head coach Ben McCollum said: “We didn’t guard the ball very well, didn’t defensive rebound or do the things that we typically do really well. It’s been snowballing on us for a couple games, we just kind of got away with it, got enough stops in a couple of those games where we were able to turn it around and today it did us.
They are a difficult matchup for us just because they kind of drive at you, sometimes with no intent to really make it, it’s just kind of to draw fouls and create the contact. It becomes difficult for us to really guard the ball and wall up. We just have to do a better job.”
Maryland out-rebounded Iowa by nine boards—including ten offensive rebounds—converting those into eleven second-chance points. The Terrapins also shot over fifty-three percent for the game while holding off several Hawkeye rallies.
Iowa committed only four turnovers in this contest—the fourth straight game keeping turnovers under ten—but could not overcome Maryland’s efficiency on offense or their advantage at free throws.
The Hawkeyes will return home Saturday to face No. 13/12 Purdue at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in a sold-out matchup.
