Hawkeyes throttle Terrapins

IOWA CITY - Iowa came out gunning Sunday, and Maryland came out ... well, not really.

In a dominant performance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the Hawkeyes blasted the Terrapins early and often in a 71-55 rout. Iowa (15-8, 6-4 Big Ten) led 7-0, 17-2 and 24-5 before No. 17 Maryland even surpassed its turnover total in points.

'(We) really couldn't keep up with them defensively,” Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon said. 'They shot 60 percent and we had a lot of turnovers in the first half. I give them credit. They were ready for us.”

In the first half, Iowa dominated in all facets, from its defense holding Maryland (19-5, 7-4) to 24 percent shooting to its offense knocking down nearly 61 percent from the floor. The Terrapins had 12 turnovers, and Iowa outscored Maryland 18-4 in the paint.

Most of Iowa's offensive early success came from ball movement and good shot selection. The Hawkeyes often passed up decent shots for better opportunities. That stemmed from self-scouting by the coaching staff.

'After the Purdue loss, they gave us the numbers,” Iowa senior Aaron White said. 'One to two passes, basically we're scoring at about a 20 percent rate. The ball goes wing-to-wing, we're scoring at a 65-70 percent rate.

'The numbers are so drastic that I know for me personally and a lot of the guys it just kind of hit us that we need to move the ball side-to-side. Even if it's not great offense, just the ball is swinging side to side, moving the defense is so big.”

Since that Purdue game, the numbers are striking. In five of Iowa's last six halves, the Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the floor. For the second consecutive game, Iowa hit more than 60 percent from the field. Sunday, Iowa connected on 68.4 percent of its shots in the second half.

'(Assistant Coach Kirk) Speraw kind of broke it down for us in games where we don't reverse the ball we're shooting, I think, in the 20 percent (range),” Iowa point guard Mike Gesell said. 'Then when we do get one or two ball reversals, we're shooting in the 70s or something like that. Something crazy.

'We've done a great of swinging the ball, not being selfish, not trying to take guys one on one as much and it's really showing.”

That was the case against Maryland. Shooting guard Peter Jok, who scored a career-high 15 points, opened Iowa's point barrage with a 3-pointer. On Maryland's next possession, Iowa center Adam Woodbury stole the ball from forward Jake Layman and then scored off the glass to go up 5-0. Two trips later, Woodbury - who matched his career best with 16 - took a nice post feed from Jok and scored again to go up 7-0.

White, who led the Hawkeyes with 17 points. didn't score until he hit a free throw with 5:48 left in the first half. The Terrapins keyed on him, and the Hawkeyes' crisp offense made them pay.

'You can't do that against us, it's just not going to work,” White said.

'We've been really unselfish,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'I think we've gotten some transition opportunities, which is critical for us. You can do that more when you get more stops, which we got more stops today, and I think we're sharing the ball.”

White moved into seventh place on Iowa's all-time scoring list, passing former teammate Matt Gatens. Gesell facilitated most of the offense and posted a career-best nine assists.

It was Iowa's second consecutive Big Ten victory by double digits. The Hawkeyes beat Michigan 72-54 last Thursday at Ann Arbor. The Hawkeyes are now a half-game behind Maryland, Purdue and Indiana (and tied with Ohio State and Michigan State) for second place.

The Hawkeyes next play rival Minnesota (15-9, 4-7 Big Ten) on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

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