Two days before the Terrapins men’s basketball team welcomed No. 3 Iowa to Xfinity Center, the Big Ten’s leading scorer was asked about the challenges of playing on the Terps’ home court.
“There are none,” Hawkeyes forward Jarrod Uthoff told reporters Tuesday.
But Thursday night, Uthoff had a season-low nine points, nearly 10 points below his season average. The Terps, mostly forwards Jake Layman and Robert Carter Jr., shut down the senior star with physical play and held him to 2-for-13 shooting from the floor.
That superb defensive effort against Uthoff helped the No. 8 Terps outlast Iowa, 74-68, before an announced 17,950 as the Hawkeyes tallied their second-lowest point total of the season. After the game, Terps coach Mark Turgeon showered Layman and Carter with praise. Uthoff was one of the hottest players in the country heading into Thursday, right there with Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield as a National Player of the Year candidate, Turgeon said. But against the Terps, he never got going.
“I thought Robert started the game great on him,” Turgeon said. “He really took a challenge. Jake was really good on him, too. … To me, Uthoff was playing as well as anyone in the country.”
Before Thursday, Uthoff had scored in double figures in every game. He totaled 10 points in two Iowa wins, over Drake and Michigan State. His 18.9 points per game average heading into Thursday ranked in the top 50 nationally.
But with Carter and Layman shadowing Uthoff, his first points came nearly eight minutes into the game. He finished the first half 0-for-5 from the field, and his first field goal wouldn’t come until the 18:15 mark of the second half.
Uthoff tried a variety of moves to get shake free of the Terps’ forwards. With about two minutes left in the first half, he missed a long jumper with Layman hounding him. About a minute later, Uthoff received the ball in the post but couldn’t get past Layman. He settled for a turnaround jumper that fell woefully short.
“We just wanted to come out, get off to a good start defensively,” Carter said. “We know that his jump shot gets him going. Making jump shots gets him going and get him in a rhythm. We just tried to keep him out of rhythm early. And it worked tonight.”
A layup early in the second half couldn’t jump-start Uthoff, though. His poor shooting continued, and about two minutes after his first basket, Uthoff drove into the lane, jumped into the air and aimlessly threw the ball out of bounds.
While he had 10 rebounds, tied for the game high, Uthoff had two assists and one turnover.
“I was playing terrible the whole game, and that’s how it goes sometimes,” Uthoff said. “I tried to get myself open as much as I could, but it happens.”
The Terps’ tough defensive play extended beyond just Uthoff. Iowa shot 37.1 percent in the second half and was 5-for-24 on 3-pointers.
“They were very physical,” Uthoff said. “They got up into us. They had a lot of energy coming out on defense.”
Layman and Carter had more points than Uthoff, though Layman was 5-for-15 from the field. Carter tied the game high with 17 points despite fouling out.
After Uthoff’s pregame comments, he was asked what he thought about the Xfinity Center crowd following the Terps’ win Thursday.
His response was terse.
“Good atmosphere.”
