Maryland Terps Vs. Iowa Hawkeyes Preview
(AP/JEFF MEZYDLO) -- Maryland's knack for finding ways to win at homehasn't translated to the road.
The No. 17 Terrapins will try to avoid losing a third straight away game Sunday against an Iowa team looking to build on a much-needed victory.
Maryland (19-4, 7-3 Big Ten) has split its last four gameswith both wins coming at home, where it's 14-1 and has won nine straight despite needing to rally in the last two.
A tip-in by Dez Wells with 1.4 seconds left capped a 68-67 comeback win against lowly Northwestern on Jan. 25 and the Terps trailed in the second half of a 64-58 victory over pesky Penn State on Wednesday.
"We're not playing great basketball but we're winning games," said coach Mark Turgeon, whose team is 5-0 in games decided by six points or less.
The Terps haven't played well or won of late on the road, where they are 3-3 and have dropped three of four since winning at Oklahoma State without Wells and beating Michigan State in overtime in their Big Ten debut.
Maryland allowed an average of 63.5 points and 37.0 percent shooting in winning three of its first four road contests, but allowed 52.7 percent while losing at then-No. 23 Indiana and Ohio State by a combined 43 points.
"We were a good road team, and we need to get back to being a good road team," said Turgeon, whose squad shot a season-worst 30.5 percent during the 80-56 loss to the Buckeyes on Jan. 29.
Turgeon is confident that point guard and leading scorer Melo Trimble (15.2 points, 3.0 assists per game) will improve after totaling seven points and missing all 13 of his field-goal attempts in the last two contests.
Trimble, shooting 27.9 percent on the road, averaged 16.3 points and 3.7 assists in the first three away contests, but has scored 8.0 per game with three total assists since.
"He will get back offensively and back in gear," Turgeon said of Trimble, who did have a season-high eight assists against the Nittany Lions.
Wells (14.1 ppg), who missed a little more than a month with a wrist injury, has averaged 17.3 points in three games. He scored 23 on 8-of-10 shooting versus Penn State.
"I'm feeling a lot closer to 100 percent now," he said. "My wrist feels amazing. My body feels great. I haven't felt this good since the beginning of the season."
Wells had nine points, four rebounds and three assists before fouling out of a 71-60 loss to Iowa during the teams' most recent meeting in the semifinals of the 2013 NIT.
Hawkeyes leading scorer and rebounder Aaron White (15.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg) had 10 points with eight boards in that matchup.
The 6-foot-9 White scored 13, but Jarrod Uthoff had 16 points and nine rebounds Thursday as Iowa (14-8, 5-4) shot a season-high 62.7 percent to snap its three-game skid with a 72-54 victory at Michigan.
"Top to bottom (the Big Ten) is so strong," Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said. "Every team you play has great players and an ability to beat you. ... Now we have to protect our home court, which isn't easy with whom we have coming in."
Ranked 25th last month, Iowa has road wins over ranked North Carolina and Ohio State teams but lost at home to Top 25 members Iowa State and Wisconsin by a combined 26 points.
White's totaled 37 points as the Hawkeyes split their last two at home against the then-unranked Buckeyes and No. 5 Badgers.