Hawkeye men freeze up in final 10 minutes at Maryland and fall, 78-66

(This story was written in Cedar Rapids.)

It’s been a season of fits and starts for the Iowa men’s basketball team, and a team that’s given it some of the most fits is Maryland.

The Terrapins finished their first two-game season sweep of Iowa since they joined the Big Ten with a 78-66 triumph over the Hawkeyes Wednesday at Xfinity Center in College Park, Md.

Both teams are 6-8 in the Big Ten, 14-11 overall. Maryland ended a three-game losing streak.

“This was a huge win, man,” said Terrapins Coach Kevin Willard.

The script for Wednesday’s game was much like the one when Maryland rallied for a 69-67 win at Iowa City on Jan. 24, though this one wasn’t decided in the final moments.

Iowa had a 10-point lead in the first meeting and an 11-point advantage in this one. Maryland’s Jahmir Young had five points at halftime and 22 at the end in Iowa City. He had six points at the half and 21 total Wednesday.

The Hawkeyes were ahead 58-50 with 10:34 left, then scored just eight points the rest of the way. They were outscored 34-12 in the final 12:09.

“We didn’t get any of them (the missed shots in that stretch) back,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said in his postgame press conference. “Give (the Terrapins) credit. They got the rebounds.”

Asked what Maryland did to hold Payton Sandfort to six second-half points, McCaffery said “If I answer that question, obviously I’ll be fined.”

The Terps struggled offensively for 30 minutes before veterans Young and forward Julian Reese carried them.

Reese had 16 points and 13 rebounds. His jumper with one second on the shot clock with 2:24 left gave the Terps a 69-64 lead and the feeling they weren’t going to lose.

Young, who somehow isn’t on the 10-player list of finalists for the Bob Cousy Award that goes to the nation’s top point guard, made all 13 of his free throws. He averages 20.9 points and has made 91.3 percent of his foul shots.

Freshman guard DeShawn Harris-Smith had a career-high 17 points for Maryland, almost 11 points above his season average.

Sandfort led Iowa with 19 points. Ben Krikke added 11. He had just one rebound, later saying “I’m very disappointed in my rebounding effort” on the Hawkeye Radio Network postgame show.

Iowa was 1-of-9 from 3-point distance in the second half after going 5-for-13 before that. Three of those were made by Sandfort as his team built a 28-17 first-half lead that was cut to 37-31 by halftime.

Iowa returns to play Saturday with a 1:15 p.m. home game against No. 20 Wisconsin (9-5, 17-8).

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