Maryland Loses Again On Road, 71-55 To Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- Maryland has discovered why Big Ten teams have a reputation for being so tough to beat at home.
Aaron White scored 17 points, Adam Woodbury matched a career high with 16 and Iowa throttled 17th-ranked Maryland 71-55 on Sunday.
Peter Jok also matched a career high with 15 points for the Hawkeyes (15-8, 6-4).
Iowa opened the game on a 22-3 run and handed the Terrapins their third straight road loss -- all by double digits.
Maryland has lost three of five and is now 2 1/2 games behind league-leading Wisconsin.
"They were really good. But I imagine we had a lot to do with that," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. "I think it was a combination of them being good and us just not really being patient."
The Terrapins (19-5, 7-4) scored just 17 points on 6-of-25 shooting in the first half as Iowa raced out to a 23-point lead. Maryland got within 15 before a technical foul on Turgeon with 10 minutes left slowed much of its momentum.
Melo Trimble had 20 points to lead Maryland, which was outrebounded. The Terrapins also let Iowa shoot 64 percent from the floor.
Maryland had been awful in its last two road games, losing at Indiana and Ohio State by 43 combined points.
The Terrapins looked just as bad against the Hawkeyes.
Maryland had as many turnovers, eight, as shots in the first 10 minutes. Its defense was even worse, allowing Iowa -- which entered play 12th in the Big Ten in field goal percentage -- to hit 10 of its first 15 shots.
"Really couldn't keep up with them defensively," Turgeon said.
The Terrapins got a little bit of traction behind Trimble and some full court pressure, but their horrid start was simply too much to overcome. White's dunk made it 34-13 Iowa with 2:03 left before halftime.
Dez Wells had 12 points for Maryland, which had 16 turnovers.
"I think when we start so slow, we're just playing slowdown offense and not really attacking," Trimble said.
Mike Gesell had nine assists for the Hawkeyes, whose schedule lightens considerably from here on out. Four of Iowa's last eight league games are against the Big Ten's three worst teams; Penn State, Rutgers and Northwestern.
Maryland hosts the Hoosiers on Wednesday and has dates with Michigan and Wisconsin in the weeks ahead.
"Kids are resilient. We're going to wake up tomorrow and...we're going to look at our record and say `Oh, we're 19-5 and 7-4," Turgeon said. "You move on. It's a grind."
TIP-INS
Iowa: Woodbury was called for a flagrant foul late in the first half for poking Trimble in the eyes. It wasn't the first time Woodbury's fingers found an opponent's eyes either. Woodbury poked a pair of Wisconsin players on Jan. 20, moves that ESPN commentator Dan Dakich memorably called "gutless."
Maryland: Woodbury's eye poke capped a brutal first half for Trimble. He tumbled into a camera man midway through the half and got popped in the nose. He quickly returned to the lineup -- and promptly got poked by Woodbury. Trimble said that Woodbury apologized when it happened and after the game.
COURTSIDE
McCaffery wasn't in the mood to discuss Woodbury after the game. When asked his thoughts on Woodbury's recent pokes, McCaffery told a reporter to "ask an intelligent question." When another reporter asked McCaffery why he thought that wasn't an intelligent question, he said "because I said so."
STAT LINES
Iowa won big despite 19 turnovers, in part because it scored 71 points on just 42 shots. The Hawkeyes have shot higher than 60 percent in each of their last two games. Maryland players besides Trimble were 1 of 17 shooting in the first half.
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