The Maryland men’s basketball (11-7, B1G 2-4) offense showed up and showed up early in the game. Forward Julian Reese scored the first six points for Maryland, but Iowa (12-5, B1G 4-3) went on an 8-0 run and held the lead the rest of the way to secure their fourth straight win, an 81-67 victory. 

With the loss, Maryland falls to 0-4 on the road in conference play for the first time since 2013. 

The Terps held Iowa’s top two leading scorers in check for the first half. Forwards Kris Murray and Flip Rebraca combined for just four points, but the Hawkeyes found offense from other players. 

Hawkeyes guard Tony Perkins’ career game boosted Iowa. Perkins converted jumpers and layups consistently en route to 15 first-half points. Guard Payton Sandfort also continued his hot hand, chipping in nine first-half points. 

Reese had a big first half scoring all 10 of his points in the first 20 minutes, but quickly got into foul trouble, and the Terps struggled when Reese went to the bench. 

Backup big forward Patrick Emilien missed the game with an ankle injury allowing other players like forward Pavlo Dziuba, Ike Cornish, and center Caelum Swanton-Rodger each see some meaningful minutes. 

Without Reese’s force in the paint, the Terps’ offense sputtered, going on scoring droughts of 3:55 and 3:05 in the first half as the Hawkeyes went on two separate 8-0 runs to build up a lead. 

The turnovers did not help. The Terps turned the ball over 12 times, including eight in the first half, creating a 16-point deficit with 2:03 left until halftime. 

“I thought the turnovers early in the first half were just careless turnovers,” head coach Kevin Willard said on the radio show postgame interview. “I didn’t think they were forced turnovers, I just thought we were doing things we shouldn’t have been doing that we don’t do in practice.” 

Despite the turnovers, the Terps still shot 50% from the field in the first half and finished the half with 33 points, but still found themselves trailing by ten to the conference’s top offense. 

Spanning from the final two minutes of the first half to about two and half minutes into the second half, Maryland spearheaded an 18-4 run to make it a two-point game at 43-41, but that was the closest the Terps could cut the deficit. 

Perkins finished the game with 21 points, a new career-high set a new high with a powerful dunk early in the second half. 

The Terps could not keep Murray in check for the entire game. Murray heated up midway through the second half connecting on a three-pointer to push Iowa’s lead to seven at 53-44. 

Still, the Terps finished the game shooting 47.5% from the field, their highest percentage since shooting 53.2% in their win against Saint Peters. Guard Jahmir Young and forward Donta Scott each contributed 20 points and 15 points, respectively, joining Reese in double figures. 

Murray shot 7-11 in the second half scoring 17 of his 19 points late, helping the Hawkeyes earn their fourth straight win against the Terps.