The red-hot Hawkeyes are aiming for their seventh consecutive win. Wednesday's tip off is set for 5 p.m. CST.
After a closer-than-expected triumph over Northwestern on Super Bowl Sunday, Iowa basketball is back in action on Wednesday against a struggling Maryland Terrapins squad.
The Hawkeyes (18-5, 8-4) are going for their seventh straight conference win, which would be their longest winning streak since the 2015-16 team opened Big Ten play 7-0. On the flip side, Maryland (9-14, 2-10) is just simply playing out the string of what has been a challenging first season for head coach Buzz Williams.
Game Information
Time: 5 p.m. CST
TV: FS1 (Brandon Gaudin, LaPhonso Ellis)
Location: College Park, Maryland
Arena: Xfinity Center (Capacity 17,950)
Game Notes
- Iowa has 18 wins and eight in Big Ten play, surpassing the 2024-25 win totals. The team is 18-5 overall (8-4 in league play), the team’s best start through 23 games since 2018-19. The 8-4 conference mark is the team’s best since 2015-16.
- Senior Bennett Stirtz has scored 20+ points in six straight games (13 times this season) and has posted career-highs in two of the last three games. He has scored 90 points during the three-game stretch, the most since Keegan Murray’s 91-point stretch in Feb. 2022.
- Stirtz scored 32 points and had seven assists at Oregon on Feb. 1 before finishing with a career-best 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting (four 3s) in the win over Northwestern. The 36 points are the most by a Hawkeye since Luka Garza in 2021 and are tied for the fourth-most in a game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena history.
- Iowa ranks 13th nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 51 percent. The team also is 12th in effective field goal percentage (.585).
The rundown
Williams' decision to leave his home state of Texas and a prime job at Texas A&M for Maryland was an interesting one to many observers. The experiment hasn't gone well for Williams, as his Terrapins have been not only one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, but one of the worst high-major teams in the country.
Maryland's NET ranking earlier in the week was a putrid No. 182 - the worst among Power Four teams - but the Terrapins are actually coming into this game fresh off a rare victory. Maryland trailed most of the way at Minnesota, but rallied late to pull off a 67-62 win.
The win was the Terrapins' second in Big Ten play, and it should certainly give them confidence heading into the Iowa game. The Hawkeyes do have some familiarity with Maryland, however, as they defeated them 83-64 back on Dec. 6.
Texas A&M transfer Pharell Payne has been sidelined with an injury for most of the season, which has left the bulk of the scoring load to seniors David Coit and Solomon Washington. Coit, who transferred from Kansas, leads the way with 15.2 points per game and delivered the go-ahead triple against Minnesota.
Washington and freshman guard Darius Adams are the other Terrapins to average double figures this year, but the lack of quality players around them have led to a poor offensive showing. Maryland posts just 71.8 points per game (the fourth-worst in the league), and is dead-last in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (40%).
To no one's surprise, it hasn't gotten much better on the defensive end of the floor. The Terrapins have yielded 79 points per contest this year, which ties Penn State for the worst in the conference.
Prediction: Iowa 80, Maryland 66
Maryland will be riding high after beating Minnesota, but the Hawkeyes are playing at a high level right now. Bennett Stirtz has won back-to-back Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honors after a 36-point outing against Northwestern, and it's hard to see the struggling Terrapin defense slowing him down.
Even if they do, that means there could be more opportunities for role players like Cooper Koch and Alvaro Folguieras