Maryland men’s basketball dismantled by Iowa, 83-64, in Big Ten opener

Maryland men’s basketball looked lost Saturday. On the road in their Big Ten opener, the Terps found themselves already down 14 at the half.

Something needed to change. But nothing did. Maryland was pummelled, 83-64, in its conference opener.

Problems that have plagued the Terps all season long only continued into the second half, as the Hawkeyes stormed out to a 12-2 run over the first four and a half minutes. Nothing encapsulated Maryland’s repeated mistakes more than a lazy pass from Myles Rice to Pharrel Payne with 15:39 remaining as the Terps crossed halfcourt — just one of the Terps’ 18 turnovers.

The ball was snatched by Cam Manyawu, who flew the other way for an emphatic slam — and it all but slammed the door shut on Maryland’s hopes of storming back.

One thing was evident through the first five minutes of play: Bennett Stirtz is rightfully in the conversation to be an NBA Draft lottery pick. Solomon Washington, Maryland’s best defender, was tasked with guarding the crafty scorer. But Stirtz still sank two heavily-contested jumpers early.

Like the Hawkeyes, Maryland relied on its star scorer — Payne — to kickstart its offense. After scoring a career-high 30 points in the last contest against Wagner, Payne notched six points in the opening six minutes — four of those points came from free throws.

A 12-0 Iowa run highlighted some of the many issues that have plagued Maryland so far this season against staunch competition. The Hawkeyes found success in running the court against the Terps’ slow-to-adjust defense. Rapid ball movement left corner shooters open, and Iowa was a perfect 5-of-5 from downtown in the first 10 minutes.

Turnovers didn’t help Maryland, either — it had four in the first 10 minutes, but almost all of them led to fast break opportunities. Not known to be an exceptionally high-flying offense, one might have thought Iowa transformed into Houston’s Phi Slama Jama of the early 1980s with some of its rim-running antics.

High pick-and-roll screens for the always-moving Stirtz also gave Maryland fits. The senior guard piled on 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting from deep range in the first 12 minutes. The Terps often failed to fight over these screens, giving Stirtz extra room to release his shots — and he doesn’t need much room at all.

Maryland’s initiative to shoot free throws continued after taking a staggering 45 against Wagner. In the first half, the Terps shot 13 free throws to Iowa’s seven, further highlighting head coach Buzz Williams’ paint-oriented offensive strategy.

The first period ended with Maryland failing to score a point in the final three minutes — and Iowa the final two. The Hawkeyes led 44-30 after 20 minutes.

To start the second half, Guillermo Del Pino ran point guard, while Myles Rice and Darius Adams sat on the bench. But things didn’t change for the struggling Terps.

The outside shot wasn’t quite falling as it had in the first half for the Hawkeyes, but it didn’t matter. Ten of Iowa’s first 12 points in the frame came in the paint, and Maryland’s bigs offered little resistance.

Meanwhile, the Terps went on a stretch without hitting a field goal for over four minutes — Andre Mills hit the shots on both ends of the drought.

One thing stood out clearly: Iowa’s off-ball movement far exceeded the speed with which Maryland’s defense could operate. Lane cutters and off-ball screens picked apart the Terps’ interior.

Meanwhile, Maryland’s continuously stagnant offense, featuring low-post feeds and catch-and-shoot threes, only aided the Hawkeyes’ defense. The lack of movement made the Terps’ choreographed passes easily diagnosed — it led to six bad turnovers in the half’s first 10 minutes.

Down the stretch, the game slowed to a snail’s pace on both ends, though it was Maryland that benefited with a bevy of free throws. In fact, Payne shot a ridiculous 18 free throws on the game, and was too imposing for Iowa’s bigs. He feasted with seven offensive rebounds, leading to second-chance hacks. Alvaro Folgueiras fouled out with six minutes left, and three more Hawkeyes had at least four fouls.

But Payne’s 9-of-18 at the line represented Maryland’s shortcomings Saturday, as it could never truly find its footing in the defeat.

1. Early 3-point disparity. Iowa’s ability to separate from the Terps early came largely from its ability to consistently hit 3-pointers. In the first half, the Hawkeyes went 8-of-13 from downtown — those eight were more than the six the Terps made all game. Stirtz led Iowa with four triples.

2. Free throw problems. The Terps shot 38 free throws Saturday but made just 24. Darius Adams had a nice stretch in the second half, slashing to the basket and earning some trips to the charity stripe. But issues from the line affected him, as it did the whole team — he went 6-of-10 from the line.

If Maryland wants free throw shooting and an aggressive driving offense to be its identity, then missing that many shots from the stripe won’t fly.

3. Cleaning up to do. Iowa had a staggering 12 steals and 21 points off turnovers Saturday. If the Terps simply minimized its sloppy play even just a little, the game could have been far more competitive.

Cleaning up ball handling and passing problems is something that is easier said than done, but it should be Williams’ primary focus at this point in the season.