Iowa 89, Maryland 67: Bath Time

Your #5 Iowa basketball Hawkeyes made a hapless Maryland team look like a hapless Nebraska team in a 89-67 drubbing in College Park.

It looked liked it was going to be a long game as Iowa found itself in an early 8-2 hole, prompting Fran McCaffery to call a timeout 90 seconds in to tell his team to wake the eff up.

Down 17-7 four minutes in, McCaffery called another timeout to insert Joe Toussaint, Jack Nunge, Keegan Murray and Patrick McCaffery into the lineup. This group helped amass 20 consecutive for the Hawkeyes, turning a 19-9 Maryland lead into a 29-19 Iowa advantage.

Like everyone predicted, a Connor McCaffery three-pointer turned on the hot water for the Hawkeye faucet. The aforementioned quartet gave the Terrapins a bath.

There was some special stuff between Garza and Murray.

And I don’t know if you heard, but this is a Keegan Murray fan blog now.

When it was all said and done, Iowa took a 44-26 lead into the locker room. To quote Robbie Hummel after Jordan Bohannon sunk his first three of the game with 30 seconds to go, “it’s an easy game.”

Maryland threw the kitchen sink at Iowa in the second half, but we got the Classic Hawkeyes in the final 20. Bohannon hit five three-pointers, while P-Mac and Murray steered the ship.

Garza was whistled for two quick ones early in the second, and, after some dubious conversation about a cylinder, basically sat for 10 minutes because Iowa didn’t really need him. He ended with 24 points (2-4 from deep) after putting up 17 in the first half.

There’s little to say about the final 20 minutes. This is definitely the weakest Maryland team I’ve seen since joining the conference, the presence of a Wiggins (no relation) be damned.

Ahron Ulis, Tony Perkins, and the other Murray (Kris) finished things up with Joe Toussaint and the other other Murray to punch Iowa’s fourth conference win. It’s the first time Garza won on the home court of his hometown team, and Iowa takes a three game win streak to its rematch with Minnesota on Sunday afternoon.

Musings

• Jason Benetti and Robbie Hummel are a Good Crew.
• I’m not sure if Fran McCaffery’s of past would’ve called that first timeout.
• After Northwestern, I felt like Iowa finally broke the seal on Keegan Murray. He’s turning into a full on weapon now, as his insertion was a catalyst in digging Iowa out of its early hole. He ended the game with 12 points, 5 boards, 2 blocks and a steal.
• Patrick McCaffery had a nice game with 10 points and 2-2 from range.
• You can be worried by the perceived streakiness of Joe Wieskamp and CJ Fredrick... or you can be like me, and choose to not think about it.
• The return of Connor McCaffery cannot be understated: he had 10 assists and no turnovers!