IOWA 83, MARYLAND 69: SNAPPED TURTLES

Jordan Bohannon had 24 points while shooting 8-10 from three as Iowa routed No. 24 Maryland 83-69 in College Park.

This was the most fun I’ve had watching a basketball game in a long time. Obviously it helps when your team shoots 61 percent from three while 86 percent (51 points) of your scoring from freshmen, but whatever we’ll take that everyday.

This one was out of hand early and often. Maryland led for just over 2 minutes through the entire game, and Iowa never allowed the Terps to get in to a rhythm. Whenever Maryland was making a run, Iowa was there to answer.

Tyler Cook was the other shining star for Iowa, who also happened to post the best game of his career. He had 21 points and 10 boards and just absolutely feasted below the rim. He made Damonte Dodd an absolute non-factor.

Even Melo Trimble was rendered relatively useless against this inconsistent Iowa defense. He dropped just 10 points while shooting 4-13 from the field and 1-9 from three. Kevin Huerter led the Terps in scoring with 13.

Iowa just beat Maryland in every facet of the game here. The Hawkeyes out-rebounded the Terps 36-30 and dominated them in second chance points, 30-6. Iowa scored 22 points off of Maryland’s 14 turnovers, while only turning it over 11 times themselves—a modest figure for this team.

After Bohannon and Cook, it was Nicholas Baer who had one of his better games— certainly scoring-wise. He dropped 11 while shooting 3-6 from three. Brady Ellingson got involved with the fun, dropping 6 while going 2-3 from range.

And we haven’t even talked about Peter Jok yet. Jok had 11 points, 4 boards and 3 assists and was pretty secondary the entire game. He knew Bohannon and Cook were on fire, and did his best to get them looks. He also played just 31 minutes, so his back may have been flaring up.

Bohannon’s 8 three-pointers fall just short of Chris Kingsbury’s record (he had two games where he made 9 three’s in 1994). I would have liked to see Bohannon go after the record late in the game, but he didn’t force anything and just let the team close it out. He’ll have plenty of other opportunities to break the record.

So. Iowa finds itself on a winning streak as it closes out the season. We have some rest until we go to Wisconsin on Thursday, while Penn State comes to Carver on Sunday for senior night. Those are some winnable games, and coming ahead in those contests, along with a run in the Big Ten Tourney means the Big Dance isn’t out of the question. Right?

RIGHT?!?