COLLEGE PARK, Maryland, Sporting Alert – Robert Carter and Rasheed Sulaimon each scored 17 points and No. 8 Maryland knocked off No. 3 Iowa 74-68 in a Big Ten battle at XFINITY Center in College Park on Thursday night.
The Terrapins led 41-35 at halftime, but struggled in the second half — going 0-for-10 from beyond the arc and shooting 9-for-27 from the floor overall over the final 20 minutes.
The shooting slump allowed Iowa back into the contest, but in the end, the hosts did enough to secure the win.
“It wasn’t always pretty, but we played hard and we competed,” winning coach Mark Turgeon said.
“Everybody that cares about Maryland basketball was in a panic, but we weren’t. We didn’t overreact. You could tell our guys were really ready to compete.”
The defeat was the first in conference play for the Hawkeyes, who had won seven straight in the Big Ten before Thursday night.
Carter shot 7-of-11 and also finished with seven rebounds and four assists, while Sulaimon hit three 3-pointers, went 6-of-11 from the floor overall and dished out five assists and pulled down four rebounds.
Jake Layman added 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, and Melo Trimble finished with 11 points, five boards, three assists and three steals for the Terrapins (18-3, 7-2 Big Ten) who were rebounding from the defeat to Michigan State last time out.
Peter Jok led Iowa with 14 points and Mike Gesell finished with 12 points and four rebounds in the defeat.
Adam Woodbury added 11 points and 10 rebounds and Anthony Clemmons added 11 points for the Hawkeyes (16-4, 7-1 Big Ten) who were suffering their first Big Ten loss this season, while the Hawkeyes’ nine-game winning streak also came to an end.
“I thought they were locked in,” coach Fran McCaffrey said of Maryland. “They were locked in defensively, they were locked in on the glass.
“They executed better than we did for consistent stretches of the game. We had breakdowns. We’re not a team that has more turnovers than assists.
“But you have to credit your opponent. They were up on us and they were active.”
Jarrod Uthoff, who is averaging 18.9 points per game this season, was held to just nine points and 10 rebounds in the defeat on Thursday night.
The Terrapins were earning their third straight win against a top-3 opponent.
