Harty: Even in defeat, No. 3 Iowa deserves respect
Even in defeat, I gained more respect for the Iowa men’s basketball team on Thursday.
Think about everything that had to happen in order for No. 8 Maryland to escape with a 74-68 victory over the third-ranked Hawkeyes.
For starters, it helped that the game was played on Maryland’s home court where it now has won 25 games in a row.
It also helped that Iowa made just 5-of-24 3-point shots and that senior forward Jarrod Uthoff had a poor performance by his high standards, making just 2-of-13 field-goal attempts and scoring fewer than 10 points for the first time this season.
Senior center Adam Woodbury also fouled out with 2 minutes, 47 seconds left to play after recording his third consecutive double-double in scoring and rebounding.
And senior point guard Mike Gesell committed some uncharacteristic turnovers late in the game.
All of those things worked against the Hawkeyes, and yet, Maryland still was fortunate to win.
Victory wasn’t secured until Maryland point guard Melo Trimble made four consecutive free throws in the final 11.9 seconds.
“I thought we fought, I thought we showed some toughness,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said on his Learfield post-game radio show. “We’ve got to be a little bit better in some areas of execution, whether it be our two-three zone, whether it be our late-game press and then our half-court sets.”
Thursday’s loss was significant because Iowa had been the only Big Ten still undefeated in conference play and had won nine games in a row.
But on the other hand, Thursday’s loss is nothing to be a shamed of because of the opponent, because of the difficult circumstances and because the Hawkeyes refused to wilt.
Maryland needed a signature win, while Iowa was trying to add to its second best Big Ten start in school history.
Trailing 41-35 at halftime, the Hawkeyes seized the momentum and the lead by scoring the first seven points in the second half. Maryland then answered with a 6-0 scoring run. The momentum then shifted back and forth until the end.
“I was really impressed with our guys at the start of the second half, erasing that six-point lead and taking the lead back,” McCaffery said. “And they came right back and we took the lead again. And we had a chance to tie it late.
“I don’t think we ever got into any flow offensively. We fought. I thought we had some very uncharacteristic turnovers. Mike had a couple, and that’s just not him.”
Uthoff’s performance also was uncharacteristic of him. He missed all seven of his shots in the first half and never seemed to find a rhythm on offense, scoring just nine points. He did help on the boards, though, with 10 rebounds against Maryland’s tall and athletic front-line.
“Jarrod just had one of those nights,” McCaffery said. “I’m proud of him. He had nine (points) and 10 (rebounds). He couldn’t get the jumper to fall down and hit the shots that he normally makes.
“He was a little bit off-balance. It was just an uncharacteristic game for him when he did get open at the 3-point line. But he still fought.”
Senior guard Anthony Clemmons had a positive impact on both ends of the floor. In addition to hounding Trimble on defense, Clemmons also scored 11 points, had four assists and zero turnovers in 30 minutes.
Clemmons was among four Iowa players who scored in double figures, led by Peter Jok with 14 points.
“We don’t feel that we played great tonight, but we still hung in there and we barely lost,” Jok said. “We just have to get back to work tomorrow.”
Iowa has two days to prepare for its next game on Sunday against Northwestern at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes, with records of 16-4 overall and 7-1 in the conference, still are tied for first place in the Big Ten with Indiana and they almost won at Maryland despite performing below their standards.
Maryland had so much working to its advantage on Thursday, but still was fortunate to win. That speaks volumes about this veteran Iowa team.