Tony Perkins scored a career-high 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting to propel Iowa to its fourth straight win, 81-67 over Maryland on Sunday in Iowa City.
Big Ten scoring leader Kris Murray recovered from a slow start to score 17 of his 19 points in the final 14 minutes. Payton Sandfort added 12 points and seven rebounds while Connor McCaffery contributed 12 points and three steals.
Iowa (12-6, 4-3) used an up-tempo attack to create high-percentage opportunities. The Hawkeyes shot 60 percent from the floor as 23 of their 33 baskets came from in the paint. The Hawkeyes also had a 15-0 edge on fastbreak points.
Maryland (11-6, 2-4), which trailed for all but the first two minutes, continued to play to its form in the conference, where it is 2-0 at home and 0-4 on the road.
Jahmir Young led the Terrapins with 20 points. Donta Scott contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds. Julian Reese added 10 points and six rebounds.
The Terps, who trailed by 16 points in the first half and by 10 at the break, scored the first eight of the second half. Hakim Hart and Scott hit back-to-back 3-pointers and another bucket by Scott made it 43-41.
But Iowa resumed control with an eight-point run, triggered by a flying fast-break slam by Perkins. The run also included a 3-pointer by Murray as the Hawkeyes pushed their advantage to 55-44 with 12:33 left.
After that, the closest Maryland got was to within six points. But soon afterward, a 3-pointer by McCaffery restored Iowa’s double-digit lead, at 65-55, with seven minutes left.
In the opening minutes, Iowa reeled off eight straight points to take the lead for good. Perkins added five points in a subsequent seven-point spree that gave the Hawkeyes a 19-10 lead.
Iowa pushed its lead to 16 points later in the half as Ahron Ulis and McCaffery drained 3-pointers 20 seconds apart and Perkins followed with a stick-back to put Iowa in charge 37-21.
In the final three minutes of the half, however, Young retaliated with 10 points as the Terps whittled the deficit to 43-33.
–Field Level Media