Maryland could not slow down Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp, fall to Iowa 67-49
The Terrapins (13-3) were coming off a trio of wins, including the defeats of Big Ten opponents in No. 11 Ohio State and Indiana. Unfortunately for Maryland, they were unable to keep their streak alive, falling 67-49 to the Iowa Hawkeyes (11-5) Friday night at the Carver Hawkeye Arena.
Maryland only had one player score in double figures tonight and that happens to be from their best player Jalen Smith.
"Stix" Smith performed admirably, who led the team with 13 points on 5-7 (.714) from the field. He also had five rebounds, one steal, and two blocks on the night.
While Smith had a good night, Anthony Cowan Jr had a performance he would like to forget. He finished 2-10 (.200) from the field, including 2-9 (.222) from behind the arc.
After three-straight games of solid defensive performances, the Terrapins defense could not slow down the Hawkeyes in any capacity. During the first half, Iowa went on a 19-2 run after being down 15-10 with 11:44 remaining. Maryland struggled to gain any momentum on the offense, scoring only 30.4 percent from the field going into the break. This allowed the Hawkeyes take a 38-24 lead by halftime.
Although Maryland shrunk the lead down to 10 with 14:42 remaining in the game, that was the closest they could get to the lead. Joe Wieskamp was ripping apart the Terrapins' defense, making an impressive 5-9 (.555) from behind the arc. He finished the night with a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds. He also had four steals.
Wieskamp was not the only player on the Hawkeyes that had a double-double. Their top player Luka Garza had 21 points and 13 rebounds.
With the loss, Maryland drops to 3-2 in conference play as Iowa improves to 2-3. So far, all three losses of the Terps happened while playing away.
The Terrapins will be back at it in conference play on Tuesday, traveling to the Kohl Center to take on the Wisconsin Badgers (9-6) at 9PM.
