With players returning from injury and its roster starting to look like preseason projections, conference play begins for Maryland men’s basketball this weekend.
The Terps head to Iowa City on Saturday to face Iowa.
Maryland’s first true road game was successful. The Terps defeated Marquette 89-82 in an emotional win.
But attempts to step up in class against top-tier competition did not go well. The Terps (6-3) lost back-to-back games by 30-plus points against No. 11 Gonzaga and No. 12 Alabama at the Players Era Tournament — much to the dismay of head coach Buzz Williams.
“Tuesday night was the worst loss of my career as a head coach, and Wednesday night was the second-worst loss of my career as a head coach,” Williams said.
The task is now Iowa (7-1), whose only loss this season came against No. 7 Michigan State on Tuesday.
The Hawkeyes are not ranked in the AP top 25, but they received 99 votes — the most of any unranked team by 40 votes.
Senior Bennett Stirtz leads the Hawkeyes with 18.0 points per game. As a junior at Drake, Stirtz was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year while leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament. This season, he was named to the Wooden Award Preseason Player of the Year Watch List — the award given to the best player in college basketball.
Along with Stirtz came head coach Ben McCollum. The Iowa native replaced long-time coach Fran McCaffery, who spent 15 seasons at Iowa, but was fired after a disastrous 2024-2025 season. McCollum led Drake to back-to-back NCAA tournaments and won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State.
Iowa features no other player averaging double figures this season, but five players average between 7.4 and 9.0 points per game.
Where Iowa really hangs its hat is on defense. They have the tenth-best scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 62.4 points per game.
Maryland’s offense this season does not pose a significant threat to the vaunted Hawkeyes’ defense. It ranks No. 168 in the nation in scoring average at 78.6 points per game, but is inflated from his scoring affairs against weaker competition.
Maryland hasn’t fared well against top competition so far this season. Now, a nearly fully healthy roster with the return of Solomon Washington should help the Terps improve on their struggles in Las Vegas.
Injuries to several key players — from the preseason in the cases of Washington and Myles Rice, and in-game with Pharrel Payne — have prevented the entire new Terps roster from playing consistent minutes together.
The most important part of Maryland’s schedule begins on Saturday with conference play, and the Terps have all their guys back.
Washington made his season debut in the Terps’ win against Wagner on Tuesday. His role as vocal leader on the team translated to his on-court presence. The senior provided energy with his 10 points — two baskets on lobs — grabbed six rebounds, and added a steal and a block.
“Felt really great,” Washington said. “Just excited to be here, glad to be a Terp and going to change the narrative.”
The narrative he’s referring to is the Terps’ struggles against top competition this season, which has tanked their rankings in advanced stats.
On paper, the Terps and Hawkeyes look like a close matchup with six and seven wins, respectively, but advanced metrics tell a different story. Maryland ranks No. 179 in the Net — second lowest in the Big Ten — and No. 92 in KenPom. Iowa ranks No. 31 in the net and No. 32 in KenPom.
For a Maryland team figuring things out on the fly, a road matchup with Iowa is a tough draw in early December.
“Well, we don’t know who we are, and we’re trying to figure out who we are while going to play a top team on the road Saturday,” Williams said. “We can’t change the schedule. We are thankful for healthy bodies.”
