Maryland’s offense had gone lifeless. The Terps went four minutes without a bucket and their deficit reached double-digits with twelve minutes to go.
Then things started clicking.
The Terps closed the game on a 34-12 run to snap their three-game losing skid and defeat Iowa, 78-66, on Wednesday. Maryland made eight of its last 11 shots to close out the game.
Kevin Willard mentioned that his team struggled to make timely shots all year long after the Terps lost to Ohio State on Saturday. His team showed up when it mattered most against the Hawkeyes.
“[When we were down by 10] I just kinda reminded them that we’ve been in this situation a lot, so everybody take a deep breath,” Willard said. “It was more or less just calming them down.”
Jahmir Young finished the night with a game-high 21 points. DeShawn Harris-Smith scored a career-high 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting while Julian Reese notched a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double.
Mady Traore earned his second consecutive start for Maryland (14-11, 6-8 Big Ten) after logging eight points against the Buckeyes. The sophomore entered the lineup in place of Jordan Geronimo, who didn’t play on Saturday.
[Maryland men’s basketball blows lead, loses to Ohio State in double overtime, 79-75]
Geronimo returned to the court Wednesday night, where he played seven minutes and scored two points before injuring his knee and being ruled out. Traore finished with two points in 10 minutes before exiting the game with a knee injury of his own in the second half.
The Terps started slow, making just two of their first 11 shots. The Hawkeyes took advantage and grabbed a 13-4 lead on the back of Payton Sandfort, who nailed his first three triples of the night.
Maryland tightened the lead to three before Iowa scored eight unanswered points to take a double-digit lead.
The Terps’ offense cleaned up by halftime. They made six of their last eight shots to enter the break trailing 37-31.
Harris-Smith, Reese and Donta Scott each had seven points in the first 20 minutes. Young added six for the Terps, who entered halftime shooting 2-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Sandfort had a game-high 13 points at the half after scoring a season-low six points against Maryland when the Terps and Hawkeyes met on Jan. 24. Maryland was victorious in that outing, winning 69-67 after Young scooped in a game-winning layup with the clock winding down.
[Maryland men’s basketball’s bench has struggled. Against Rutgers, its stars did too.]
Harris-Smith scored three early baskets in the second half to eclipse double-figure scoring for the first time in over a month and tie his career-high of 13 points.
While Harris-Smith turned in the best offensive performance of his career, Willard was even more complimentary of his defense. The coach said that Harris-Smith asked to switch onto Sandfort after he started 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Sandfort ended the night 3-for-9 from distance, and Willard said that Harris-Smith’s defensive performance was the difference between Sandfort’s hot start and cold finish.
“I was really just chasing him around. He runs a lot off ball-screens, he was always cutting back-door,” Harris-Smith said. “I feel like I’m one of the best defenders on the team, so if we’re having trouble guarding somebody, I’m just gonna ask for the challenge to try to stop him.”
The Terps made four of their first seven shots in the second half before going on a field goal drought that lasted about four minutes, allowing Iowa to take a 54-44 lead.
Maryland then had consecutive trips down the floor that resulted in three points thanks to an and-one from Young and a triple from Harris-Smith.
The Hawkeyes’ lead was cut to two midway through the half following a 12-4 Terps run across the next three minutes. Maryland made it a single-score gap for the first time since the score was 18-15.
A bucket from Reese tied the game at 60 with just under eight minutes remaining. Free throws from Young gave Maryland its first lead of the game.
And the Terps never looked back.
Young scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, helping propel Maryland to the win.