Maryland men’s basketball destroys Iowa in conference matchup

#25 Maryland Men's Basketball vs. Iowa at Xfinity Center Arena in College Park, MD on Sunday, Feb 16, 2025. (Courtesy of Maryland Athletics)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The No. 25 Maryland Terrapins (20-6, 10-5) dismantled the Iowa Hawkeyes (14-11, 5-9) 101-75 Sunday evening at the Xfinity Center.

After the Terrapins won their last two conference games against Rutgers and Nebraska, the Terrapins looked to extend their win streak with a victory over Iowa who came off of a victory against Rutgers, which snapped a three game losing streak for the Hawkeyes.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie put his ball handle on display as he got to the rim for a layup, his 22nd point of the game, and put the Terps up 84-61 with just over eight and a half minutes to play in the game.

A no-look feed from Rodney Rice to Derik Queen made things look like recess as Maryland began to toy with Iowa as they played with a 24-point advantage, as they led 86-62 with seven and a half minutes to play.

Gillespie led the way for the Terrapins with 26 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. Julian Reese achieved his 12th double-double of the season. He had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Queen had his ninth double-double of the season as he had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Rice added 18 points and Miguel added 17 points.

After getting out to an 18-13 lead within the first five minutes of the game, the crowd was already into the game as Selton Miguel knocked down his first three shots, all three-pointers. After Rodney Rice's steal led to a flagrant foul on Iowa’s Seydou Traore, he knocked down both free throws to add onto the Terps early lead.

“It feels good, at times during the game we feed off the crowd’s energy,” he added “We like when the crowd’s loud, it benefits us,” Rice said after the game.

After a few responses, Iowa was right back within a point after a lob pass from Josh Dix to Traore, the Hawkeyes trailed 24-23 with just over 11 and a half minutes to play in the first half.

Gillespie was settled in early as he had eight points and two steals within the first 11 minutes of play. As Miguel cooled off, the Hawkeyes continued to respond but Maryland proceeded to hold them at bay as things were all tied up before Traore put in his 14th point of the first half, which gave Iowa a 34-31 advantage.

After Reese put in his fourth field goal of the game, giving him eight points and four rebounds, Gillespie remained perfect from the field, 5/5 with thirteen points, but the Terrapins still trailed by five.

Miscommunications piled up for the Terps and missed opportunities continued to give Iowa the advantage. Maryland trailed 51-47 at the half, but a Miguel three-pointer going into halftime gave the Terps some desperately needed momentum.

“We’re only down four, we should be down 20,” he added “let’s just get in our press, get in the zone, try to mix them up a little bit” Maryland Head Coach Kevin Willard told his team at halftime.

Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery detailed the way things fell apart for the Hawkeyes.

“They changed defenses, I thought we had a couple of good looks early, and then they went on a run, and then we started quick shooting the ball, which we all know you can’t do on the road,” McCaffery said.

The Terps had 11 turnovers in the first half, opposed to five from Iowa. Maryland looked to clean up their miscues in order to turn things around in the second half. Traore led all scorers with 14 points in the first half, but Reese’s 10 points and five boards, as well as Gillespie 13 points, and Miguel’s 12 points have kept Maryland afloat.

Rice was back at it to kick off the second half as he hit a three on the first play back from the break. Rice went on a personal 8-0 run to begin the second half after adding a fastbreak layup and corner three to regain the Terps lead 55-51. The Terps were on an 11-0 run.

Rice told reporters after the game that the team just kept their foot on the gas pedal. Playing hard, and getting more active on defense, made things very uncomfortable for Iowa.

The team fed off from Rice’s energy, Queen began to get going as he pushed his total for the game to 10, and a Gillespie steal in the backcourt gave him a layup followed by a three on the ensuing possession, ballooning Maryland’s advantage to 68-55 with just six minutes gone in the half. The Terps were on a 24-4 run since the Miguel three to close the first half.

The Terps have dominated the backboard with an 19-6 advantage in just the 12 and a half minutes of the second half. Both Reese and Queen have notched double-doubles already, Reese with 12 and Queen with 11. The Terps threatened with 91 points with around seven minutes left to play.

The last five Maryland assists have all come from Miguel as his shooting has helped to open the court for everyone. His five assists were a season high.

The Terps ended the game with 15 turnovers, only four in the second half. Maryland outscored Iowa 54-24 in the second half, they dominated by scoring 17 fastbreak points, while the Hawkeyes scored only four. This was the 12th straight home victory for the Terrapins.

Maryland will be back in action Thursday night in College Park, facing USC.