Terps suffer third straight loss, have no answer at home for Iowa
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- For the second time in as many games, No. 24 Maryland (22-7, 10-5 Big Ten) failed to beat a team at home that it defeated on the road earlier this season.
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Three starting freshmen have been integral to Maryland’s success so far this year and helped the Terps beat Iowa (16-13, 8-8) by eight points in Iowa City a little over a month ago, but it was two first-year players for the opposing team Feb. 25 that propelled the Hawkeyes to a win in College Park, 83-69.
“Obviously we didn’t play very well today,” Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said after the game. “We didn’t defend and I thought Iowa was terrific. I don’t want to come in here and brag about Iowa like I did with Minnesota. They were terrific but we had a lot to do with it. Transition defense, rebounding and post defense were not good enough tonight. They got going and made a lot of shots and they deserve to win. We’re just not playing well. We’re not playing with any confidence.”
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Iowa’s rookie point guard Jordan Bohannon dropped a career and game-high 24 points on the Terps by going 8-for-10 from beyond the arc while also dishing out a game-high five assists. He along with freshman center Tyler Cook, who posted 21 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday, put the Hawkeyes on their backs in the 14-point victory.
“We know [Bohannon] is a shooter,” Turgeon said. “We made a couple of mistakes defensively and he made some tough shots and got going. He was good, made a lot of shots. They all made shots. I thought we did a good job on [Peter] Jok, but the rest of them were terrific. Tyler Cook was the difference really. Bohannon made shots but Cook dominated the game.”
Besides the standout performances by two players that look to have bright futures in the Big Ten, Iowa also used a flurry of three-point shooting to bury the Terps. The Hawkeyes shot 16-for-26 from downtown and seemed to come up with a big bucket every time Maryland started to gain some traction.
Some solid defense from the Hawkeyes, especially on junior guard and Terps leading scorer Melo Trimble, was also a key to success for Iowa on Saturday. Trimble scored 10 points on 4-for-13 shooting (1-for-9 from three) and got to the line just twice, hitting only one shot.
It certainly wasn’t the best night for Maryland’s leader, but Turgeon is looking for more out of his entire roster, starting with the energy the Terps are bringing to the table.
“I thought they did a good job on Melo today but none of us played well,” Turgeon said. “We’ve all got to do better. I told the team that everyone has to have more positive energy moving forward, more confidence moving forward--starting with me and all the way down to our last manager. If we do that, we’ll be fine. We’ve proven we can win, we just haven’t done it these last few games.”
Turgeon elaborated on his message to the team and his hopes that the Terps can regain their confidence as quickly as they have seemed to have lost it.
“We need a little bit more positive energy within our team moving forward, a little more confidence,” Turgeon said. “We had a ton of it a week ago. We were at Wisconsin preparing for Wisconsin and we had a ton of confidence. Three games later, eight days later we don’t. So we’ve got to get that back and it’s up to me to figure out how to do it.”
Terps freshman forward Kevin Huerter led Maryland in scoring on Saturday with 13 points, while also chipping in five assists and four rebounds. He knows the Terps aren’t at their best right now, but said they’re eager to right the ship and end their losing streak.
“Our confidence might be down a little bit,” Huerter said. “That happens after losing three games, but I still think we’re a hungry team. We were just talking in the locker room and we have leaders like Melo, Jared and Dion all telling us that they went through a similar streak like this when they were freshmen and they bounced back. We’re going to try to do the same thing. We know we’re going through a little funk right now. Teams sometimes go through this and we’re just looking forward to our next opportunity to get better.”
Maryland’s next chance to add one to the win column will be Feb. 28 at Rutgers, another team the Terps have already defeated once this season. But perhaps the Terps will fare better on the road where they are 7-2 this season and can spark a run toward their postseason goals.
“I told the team that there’s still a lot to play for,” Turgeon said. “We’re still 15 games over .500. We have two [regular season] games left and teams go through this late in the year, so we can turn it around.”