Maryland uses second-half surge to beat Iowa 91-73 (Jan 07, 2018)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) Long before Maryland proved it had far too much depth for Iowa, Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery was slapped with a pair of technical fouls and banished from the court.
He was spared from watching his young team wither under a barrage of baskets from a variety of Terrapins.
Freshman Bruno Fernando scored a career-high 21 points, Anthony Cowan Jr. added 15 and Maryland pulled away to a 91-73 victory Sunday night to keep the Hawkeyes winless in the Big Ten.
Rebounding from a 91-61 loss to No. 1 Michigan State just three days earlier, the Terrapins (14-4, 3-2) used a second-half surge to secure their eighth victory in nine games.
''Michigan State is really good. I didn't feel like we lost by 30, so the team didn't feel like we lost by 30,'' coach Mark Turgeon said. ''We feel like we really competed. We left it there and moved on.''
The Terps and Hawkeyes (9-9, 0-5) were locked in a tight game when McCaffery was ejected 45 seconds before halftime for vehemently arguing a traveling call on sophomore guard Jordan Bohannon.
''What you have to do in situations like this, you have to take responsibility,'' McCaffery said afterward. ''I didn't want to get tossed, and I don't think you ever want to put your team in that position where you give them four free throws.
''But at the end of the day, we're fighting. I'm fighting. I'm going to fight for my guys, so that's what I did.''
The Hawkeyes hung in there without McCaffery, but faded in the latter stage of their third game in six days.
''I'm proud of how they competed after (the ejection),'' the coach said. ''I thought they fought hard. The execution was good at times, not so good at other times. Credit Maryland for that. A couple of times that we got up, they kept coming. Which you sort of expect. They've got a good team and they have some guards that are special and their bigs played well tonight.''
After Bohannon hit a 3-pointer to put Iowa up 64-61, a dunk by the 6-foot-10 Fernando sparked a 19-2 run that put the Terrapins ahead for good. Cowan contributed seven points to the spree and backcourt mate Darryl Morsell made three baskets.
In the closing minutes, Fernando punctuated the victory with a one-handed jam off an alley-oop pass from Cowan, then added a free throw.
Six players scored in double figures for the Terrapins. Morsell had 14 points, Michal Cekovsky scored 13 on 5-for-5 shooting, Kevin Huerter had 12 and reserve guard Dion Wiley added 10.
Isaiah Moss led Iowa with a career-high 25 points and Bohannon had 17.
OUCH
Wiley scored all his points in the early going before getting poked in the eye. He did not play in the second half.
TIME TO GO
If took a while before McCaffery left the court, and he regrets his slow exit.
''I think the important thing there is, when the second T comes you've got to go,'' he said. ''If you start asking for explanations and start running around, that's when it becomes problematic for you.''
The officiating crew would not comment after the game.
BIG PICTURE
Iowa: Playing its first true road game since Dec. 7, the Hawkeyes kept the game close for 30 minutes. They didn't need a moral victory, however, so that was of little consolation to a young team desperately in search of a Big Ten win.
Maryland: The Terrapins got a feel-good victory following a humbling defeat at Michigan State. Still, it took a while for them to shake off the Hawkeyes, which can't be too comforting for a team that next faces Ohio State and Michigan on the road.
UP NEXT
Iowa: Continues three-game road trip at Illinois on Thursday night.
Maryland: On the road Thursday night against the Buckeyes, who stunned Michigan State 80-64 on Sunday.
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