Garceau: Layman's Defense Drops Iowa
He missed 8 of his 9 shots from 3 and 10 of 15 overall, not the kind of numbers for the player of the game right, wrong because Maryland Senior Jake Layman was the player of the game in a special game Thursday night in College Park.
For the first time since the Xfinity Center (Comcast Center then) opened in the 2002-2003 season two top 10 teams squared off with eighth ranked Maryland hosting third ranked Iowa. The place was electric, ESPN broadcaster Dan Dakich took it all in and called the Xfinity Center the best venue in The Big Ten.
Jake Layman's night with the basketball wasn't pretty, he scored 11 points but it took 15 shots, he missed 8 of 9 beyond the arc and didn't attempt a free throw. On the defensive end of the court Layman was near super-model, perfect 10 beautiful. His assignment on was to shadow The Big Ten's leading scorer Jarrod Uthoff and that was the difference in the game.
Rasheed Sulaimon and Robert Carter Jr. both scored 17 points and had a lot to do with the Terps 74-68 win over Iowa but what Layman did defensively against one of the top players in the nation gets him my game ball. Uthoff is a matchup nightmare for opponents; he can go outside and knock down three's and use his 6-9 size to score inside.
It's difficult to find a defender who can chase down a shooter outside the arc and still be able to contend with a 6-9 player down low but that's exactly what Layman did. He used his quickness length and strength to chase, deny and contest Uthoff inside and outside. The result the sharp-shooter (18.9 per game) who had hit 47% of his 3's for the season and 8 in his last 2 games was shutout from distance going 0 for 3.
It wasn't any better inside as Layman bellied up and challenged every pass to and shot from the Hawkeyes star. On a night when he couldn't shake Jake, Jarrod Uthoff made only 2 of 13 shots and Iowa had their first loss in the Big Ten. Layman played a team high 38 minutes, tied for team high rebounds, blocked 2 shots and assisted Diamond Stone's key slam dunk that gave Maryland a 64-60 lead with 1:25 left.
What a night in College Park, a signature win for Mark Turgeon's team and the latest serving of sweet home cooking. Maryland has won 25 straight at Xfinity Center and they're 14-0 at home against The Big Ten. If Jerrod Uthoff has his usual night Iowa likely wins the game but Jake Layman made sure that this would be Maryland's night.