Forward Luka Garza was one of four players who scored in double figures to lead the No. 5 Iowa men’s basketball team to an 89-67 win over Maryland at Xfinity Center on Thursday night.
Garza, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, led the way for the Hawkeyes with a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds.
Maryland (6-6, 1-5 Big Ten), which suffered its second-worst home loss in the Mark Turgeon era after a 24-point loss to Michigan on Feb. 24, 2018, and its third straight defeat his season, trailed by as many as 26 points in the second half.
Iowa (10-2, 4-1) shot 54% from the field and made 13 of 26 3-point attempts. Maryland shot 43% from the field and made 12 of its 35 attempts from long range.
The Terps attempted six free throws, tied for the fewest in the Turgeon era. The team also attempted six from the charity stripe in last week’s 84-73 loss to then-No. 16 Michigan.
“We have no low-post presence,” Turgeon said after the game, noting that the Terps struggled against Iowa’s zone defense.
A promising start for Maryland quickly turned sour. The Terps made seven of their first 10 shots and led 19-9 just five minutes into the game, but sloppy offense hampered the team for the remainder of the half.
Iowa went on a 20-0 run and ended the half on a 35-7 run to lead 44-26 at halftime. The Terps went scoreless over an eight-minute stretch and committed 10 turnovers in the first half. Maryland tied its season-high with 16 turnovers. The Hawkeyes scored 20 points off the Terps’ turnovers. Maryland was outscored in the paint 44-16.
Junior guard Aaron Wiggins (team-high 17 points) scored Maryland’s first eight points in the second half to cut the deficit to 12 but Iowa responded with a 12-2 run and the Terps had no answer. Wiggins exited the game with 6:13 remaining and did not return after rolling his ankle.
Sophomore forward Donta Scott (13 points), junior guard Eric Ayala (11 points) and sophomore guard Hakim Hart (10 points) also scored in double figures for Maryland. Senior guard Darryl Morsell came off the bench from a one-game absence after fracturing a bone in his face. Morsell, wearing a protective face mask, scored three points and had a career-high six turnovers.
Before tipoff and after standing for the national anthem, the entirety of Maryland and Iowa’s team took a knee for several seconds after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, leaving at least four people dead.
