Humbled in its Big Ten opener, Iowa looks for more physicality when it takes on visiting Maryland on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City.
The Hawkeyes (7-1, 0-1 Big Ten) were manhandled inside by No. 7 Michigan State on Tuesday. There’s no shame in that: Matching the brute force of the Spartans has been a challenge for teams throughout Tom Izzo’s three-plus decades as coach.
But the thoroughness of Michigan State’s 71-52 beatdown of previously undefeated Iowa was jarring.
The Spartans owned a 37-18 advantage on the boards and a 21-4 edge on second-chance points. Iowa was also outscored in points in the paint, 34-18.
“I’m certainly thankful that we got exposed, because that’s how you get better,” Hawkeyes first-year coach Ben McCollum said.
A difficult assignment awaits Iowa on Saturday as Maryland (6-3, 0-0) brings an interior force in Pharrel Payne, who tallied a career-high 30 points and had 10 rebounds Tuesday in an 89-63 victory over Wagner.
Like the Hawkeyes on Tuesday, the Terrapins enter their conference opener with a new coach, Buzz Williams, and a roster full of new players, most of whom have never played a Big Ten game.
In addition, Williams is still trying to figure out his rotation as three of his top six scorers have missed games because of injuries.
“We don’t know who we are,” Williams said. “And we’re trying to figure out who we are while going to play a top-15 team on the road Saturday.”
The Terrapins finally have a healthy starting five with the debut Tuesday of Solomon Washington, who had 10 points and six rebounds.
Washington, who transferred along with Payne from Texas A&M, provides muscle in the frontcourt along with Virginia transfer Elijah Saunders.
Iowa answers with perimeter threat Bennett Stirtz (18 points, 5.3 assists per game), who is one of three starters who makes at least 44% of his 3-point attempts.
The other sharpshooters are Alvaro Folgueiras (9.0 ppg, 44%) and Cooper Koch (8.5 ppg, 45.8%).
“There are things that are self-inflicted that you have to correct. As long as we don’t overreact to (the loss), we can make some big-time strides,” McCollum said. “We’ve got a great opportunity coming Saturday.”
–Field Level Media
