Maryland finally gets the marquee win it had been lacking
After a trio of narrow road losses against the three best teams its faces this season, Maryland finally nabbed the marquee win it had been lacking.
Forward Robert Carter and wing Rasheed Sulaimon both scored 17 points as the eighth-ranked Terps edged third-ranked Iowa 74-68 on Thursday night in College Park.
Defeating a top 10 opponent is a big step toward fixing the major hole in Maryland’s resume so far this year. The Terps had not beaten a KenPom top 50 team prior to Thursday night, falling at North Carolina, Michigan and Michigan State by a total of 20 points.
Maryland also remains in striking distance in the Big Ten title chase with the victory. Instead of falling an insurmountable three games behind first-place Iowa in the loss column, the Terps are now just a single game behind both the Hawkeyes and Indiana.
Ice-cold 3-point shooting prevented Maryland (18-3, 7-2) from ever opening up a double-digit lead, but the Terps maintained a slim advantage most of the game as a result of their defense. They held national player of the year candidate Jarrod Uthoff to nine points on 2-for-13 shooting and consistently contested every look the Hawkeyes got from behind the arc.
How bad did it get for Uthoff? This video tells the story. It’s not clear if that’s a shot or a pass, but it’s certainly ugly.
Iowa has fought back to tie Maryland, even though star Jarrod Uthoff has had better evenings. pic.twitter.com/UnE7bnrKnF
— SB Nation CBB (@SBNationCBB) January 29, 2016
The key stretch of the game came in the final 90 seconds after Iowa closed the gap to two points. First Mark Turgeon called timeout and designed an effective play in which Jake Layman fed Diamond Stone for a dunk. Then Melo Trimble poked the ball away from a driving Mike Gesell, a turnover that resulted in a fast-break layup for Jared Nickens and a sudden six-point lead for Maryland with only 69 seconds to go.
Iowa never made it a one-possession game again. As a result, the Hawkeyes fell to 16-4 and had their nine-game win streak snapped.
While Maryland’s win elevates its perception and its hopes of a top-two NCAA tournament seeding, Iowa should not come away too discouraged. The Hawkeyes shot poorly from the perimeter, got minimal contributions from their star player yet they still were within a bucket in the final two minutes on the road against a top 10 team.
What that suggests is that Iowa should be fine, especially with games against Northwestern, Penn State and Illinois upcoming.
Maryland got the big win it needed, but Iowa likely gained more confidence even in defeat.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
