Bennett Stirtz delivered 32 big points, but poor defense and the lack of a balanced attack resulted in an embarrassing loss.
After riding high on a six-game winning streak, Iowa basketball experienced a harsh dose of reality in College Park, Maryland on Wednesday evening.
On paper, the Hawkeyes (18-6, 8-5) overpowered Maryland (10-14, 3-10) in every statistical category, but as the saying goes - "that's why you play the game."
Once the said game tipped off, the Terrapins came ready to play. Iowa attempted to create some energy, but by the time that happened, it was too little too late.
Maryland rode off into the sunset with a 77-70 victory at the Xfinity Center, and the Hawkeyes' winning streak is now over.
Here are three observations from Iowa's loss:
Stirtz can't do it all
Bennett Stirtz continues to play at an All-American level, but the lack of a second go-to scorer has become increasingly prevalent for the Hawkeyes. They've been able to ride Stirtz's excellent performances to wins over some bad teams in this stretch, but it all came crashing down for Iowa on Wednesday.
Stirtz finished the night with 32 points on 13/21 shooting - his third straight game with 30 points or more - but only one other Hawkeye reached double figures on this night. Tavion Banks was the man to do so, but he needed five free throws to reach the mark.
Cam Manyawu (8 points) was Iowa's next leading scorer after that, with the other two members of the starting lineup, Cooper Koch and Kael Combs, combining for just seven points.
The bench play wasn't much better, either. Alvaro Folguieras and Isaia Howard didn't record a single point, and Tate Sage didn't see any action in the second half after a productive nine minutes in the first.
"I'm disappointed for him [Stirtz], " head coach Ben McCollum told the Hawkeye Radio Network after the loss. "He was desperately trying to carry the load for us. We just need other guys to show up."
Poor defensive effort
Maryland came into this game boasting the Big Ten's worst per-game field goal percentage (40%) but Iowa's defense made it look good on Wednesday. Speedy guard Diggy Coit knew he was faster than any of the Hawkeye defenders, and he netted 19 points on 5/12 shooting - the second-most on the team.
Not only was Coit getting to the rim at will, he also had a knack for finding the open man. That open man on this night was redshirt freshman Andre Mills, who finished with a team-high 24 points - including three triples in crucial moments.
The Terrapins finished with a 53% clip from the floor, and that efficiency prevented Iowa from coming back. Iowa's season-long streak of holding opponents to under their scoring average is also over, as Maryland's 77 points surpasses its season average of 71.8
"We didn't guard anybody. Our defense was horrendous. We missed a lot of wide-open, point blank threes, and that's going to get you," McCollum said.
Iowa loses the rebounding battle
Iowa's lack of size has caused it to struggle in the rebounding department at times this year. Those problems were mitigated during the six-game winning streak, but they returned in College Park.
The Terps out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 34-25, and it was Maryland's 10 offensive boards that played a major difference in this one. Iowa did register 11 offensive rebounds of its own, but the Terrapins turned their 10 into 11 crucial second-chance points, some of which came during important junctures where the Hawkeyes threatened to take the lead.
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