Hawkeyes Fall to No. 25 Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team fell to No. 25 Maryland, 101-75, on Sunday afternoon at the XFINITY Center. The Hawkeyes fall to 14-11 on the season and 5-9 in Big Ten Conference Play.

Maryland built an early seven-point lead in the first five minutes as the Terrapins started the game 7-of-7 from the field, including 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes then grabbed the lead, 34-31, for the ninth lead change of the first half. Sophomore Seydou Traore tied his season high, 14 points, with just under seven minutes to play in the first half. 

The Hawkeyes would go on to lead by as many as seven and Iowa led Maryland, 51-47, at the half.

Traore led Iowa with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Sophomore Pryce Sandfort added 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Sophomore Brock Harding dished out seven assists in the first 20 minutes. The Hawkeyes shot 20-of-35 (57 percent) from the field and 8-of-14 (57 percent) from deep in the first half. Iowa forced 11 first half turnovers and created 23 points off the turnovers.

The Terrapins came out of the second half and went on a 23-4 run to lead the Hawkeyes, 70-55, with just under 14 minutes to play. Maryland started the half 9-of-13 from the field while the Hawkeyes started 2-of-9 from the field.

The Hawkeyes were not able to cut into the Maryland deficit as the Terrapins pulled away in the second half. Pryce Sandfort led Iowa with 15 points and snagged three rebounds. Traore and Payton Sandfort each added 14 points. Payton pulled in 10 rebounds to secure a double-double. Sophomore Ladji Dembele rounded out Hawkeyes in double digits with 11 points and tied a career high with eight rebounds.

The Hawkeyes shot 31-of-72 (43.1 percent) from the field and 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from beyond the arc. Iowa converted on 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe. Maryland was led by Ja’k Gillespie with 26 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
"Maryland changed defenses. I thought we had a couple good looks early (in the second half) and then they went on a run, and we started quick shooting the ball. Which you can’t do on the road. So that was unfortunate. But I thought we had some good looks. In the first half we made eight threes and then couldn’t make one in the second half.”

GAME NOTES

• Payton Sandfort posted his third double-double of the season and eighth of his career, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds.  He was 6-of-15 from the field with two 3-point field goals. 
• Traore matched his season high, scoring 14 points – all in the first 13:15.  He made 6-of-11 field goals.
• Pryce Sandfort netted 15 points with three triples. He scored 13 points in the first half. He has led the team in scoring in two of the last three games.
• Brock Harding has had 5+ assists in 17 games and 8+ assists seven times.
• Even Brauns (six points) and Chris Tadjo (five points) finished with season highs.
• The Hawkeyes made eight 3-pointers in the first half, but missed all 13 attempts in the second stanza.
• Iowa shot just 29.7 percent (11-of-37) from the floor in the second half and 43.1 percent (31-of-72) for the game.
• The Hawkeyes scored 23 points off Maryland’s 11 first-half turnovers.  
  • The Terps committed just four turnovers in the second half.
• Drew Thelwell missed his second straight game and Riley Mulvey was also unavailable.

UP NEXT
Iowa returns home to host Oregon on Wednesday on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will tipoff at 7:30 p.m. (CT) and be televised on BTN.