The 25th-ranked Maryland Terrapins survived a late surge by Iowa, escaping with an 84-76 victory over the Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Terps were cruising, ahead 54-41 after a three-pointer by Melo Trimble with 15:06 to go.
But Iowa fought back and went on a 10-0 run making the score 54-51 with 11:12 to go setting up the exciting finish.
Iowa took their first lead of the game at 67-66 with 5:18 to play but two Trimble threes silenced the crowd and gave Maryland a 75-72 lead with 2:38 to go.
The Terps closed out the game on a 9-4 run to secure their fourth straight win while improving to (17-2, 5-1 Big Ten) good enough for first place in the conference.
Maryland overcame 21 turnovers by having five players in double-figures led by Trimble who finished the game with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Freshman point guard Anthony Cowan had 15 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals.
Freshman Justin Jackson added 12 points, a team-high nine rebounds, six steals four assists and two blocks.
Center Damonte Dodd contributed 10 points and the Terps got a real lift off the bench from sixth-man Jaylen Brantley who finished with 10 points, Ivan Bender who had eight rebounds and six points and Jared Nickens who also scored six points.
The Terps seemed to always be in control of the game as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead on a Trimble three-pointer which caused the Hawkeyes to call timeout to regroup.
Maryland’s ball movement in the first half was spectacular as they assisted on 14 of 16 baskets while forging a 29-18 lead on a Cowan bucket with 9:52 to go before the half.
The lead ballooned to 35-20 on a Bender bucket with 4:55 to go before the break but Iowa would rally holding the Terps to a 41-32 halftime advantage.
In the second half Maryland would gain a 47-33 lead on another Dodd dunk but the Hawkeyes had one more run in them setting up the close finish.
Maryland shot the ball well hitting 57 percent of their shots including a nifty 11 for 23 from three-point range.
They had 23 assists and 14 steals while making 13 of 18 free throws.
Meanwhile, Maryland held the Big Ten’s leading scorer Peter Jok to 14 points and the team to 36 percent shooting while making only seven of 28 from beyond-the-arc.
Iowa did out rebound the Terps 40-20 including an amazing 20 offensive rebounds which helped them overcome their poor shooting.
Iowa also got 12 points and six rebounds off the bench from Ahmad Wagner and 11 points, five assists and four steals from Jordan Bohannon in a losing effort for the (11-9, 3-4) Hawkeyes.
