For 20 minutes, it looked like the Iowa men’s basketball team was poised for a major upset in College Park, Maryland. The Hawkeyes led No. 25 Maryland by four points at halftime, and the team’s confidence seemed to be brewing.
But the second half ultimately was a microcosm of Iowa’s season. The Hawkeyes couldn’t string together any stops, and their usually high-powered offense disappeared completely. Any hopes of a stunning victory quickly morphed into another disappointing road defeat, as Maryland rolled away with a 101-75 win at the Xfinity Center.
Despite the loss, second-year forward Pryce Sandfort turned in an impressive performance off the bench, recording 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Fellow second-year forward Seydou Traore also had a strong showing, chipping in 14 points, two rebounds, and two assists.
Though this was a college basketball game, the pace of play from both teams resembled an NBA game. Iowa came out hot out of the gates, but Maryland seemed to answer every Hawkeye bucket with one of its own, and a couple of Iowa turnovers resulted in a quick seven-point Terrapin lead at the first media timeout.
Maryland extended its lead to nine, but Iowa answered the call with an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to one at the next timeout. Highlighting this sequence was a pretty alley-oop in transition from Josh Dix to Traore, a play that even garnered some praise from the hometown crowd in College Park.
Volume Up!
Bringing that heat @iamseydou35 💥#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/AEMpRiZlaN
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) February 16, 2025
The play was only a precursor to Traore’s half, as he continued to get buckets from all over the floor while showing tremendous fight and effort in the process. His three-pointer with 6:39 in the half gave the Hawkeyes a 34-31 lead, forcing Terrapins coach Kevin Willard to burn a timeout. The timeout didn’t affect the flow of the game though, as both teams continued to race up-and-down the court faster than Usain Bolt in the Olympics.
But unlike a short 200-meter dash, this race would last at least for another grueling, hard-fought six minutes of action. Though Maryland guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie netted a team-high 13 points in the half, it was Iowa who found itself with a comfortable seven-point advantage late in the period. Terrapin guard Selton Miguel knocked in a wide-open three-pointer in the final seconds to damper the mood, but the Hawkeyes still held an unexpected 51-47 edge at the break.
Second Half Nightmare
The Hawkeyes ended the first half with plenty of momentum, but the Terrapins quickly snatched it all away early in the second half. Second-year guard Rodney Rice opened the frame with a personal 8-0 run, forcing Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery to immediately call a timeout. Whatever was said in the Iowa huddle didn’t seem to change things, as Maryland kept its foot on the gas pedal and blossomed the lead to 15 at the halfway point.
The Hawkeyes shot over 50 percent from the floor in the first half, but in the words of Fox Sports 1 announcer Robbie Hummel, “the switch seemed to turn off,” as Iowa went only 5-for-20 to start the frame. On the flip side, the Terrapins simply couldn’t miss, shooting at a 66 percent clip from the floor.
Maryland continued to pick apart the Hawkeye defense for the rest of the night, cruising to an easy victory.