Selton Miguel set a season high with five assists in No. 20 Maryland men’s basketball’s 101-75 pummeling of Iowa on Sunday evening at Xfinity Center in College Park. That didn’t seem to register much with coach Kevin Willard.
Miguel scored 17 points in the romp on 5 of 9 shooting from 3-point range, marking the South Florida transfer’s 10th game of three or more 3-pointers this season. Among every-game starters in the Big Ten who have attempted at least 30 shots from deep against league competition, the graduate student small forward ranks fifth among his peers at 46.6% (34 of 73).
That might explain why Willard preferred to see Miguel shooting instead of passing the ball.
“I want Selton shooting the basketball every time,” he said. “With today, he’s probably up to almost 50% in league play. If he shot it every time, I would be happy. If he never dribbled again, I’d be the happiest guy.”
Here are three observations from Sunday’s outcome:
Hello, fastbreaks
That second-half eruption during which Maryland (20-6, 10-5 Big Ten) outscored Iowa 54-24 was fueled by an underutilized offensive tool: the fastbreak.
In the second half, the Terps scored 15 fastbreak points to zero for the Hawkeyes (14-11, 5-9). For the game, Maryland finished with 17 fastbreak points, which was its most since scoring 17 in a 91-70 upset of then-No. 17 Illinois on Jan. 23.
One ingredient was Iowa’s sudden inability to make shots. After connecting on 57.1% of their shots (20 of 35) in the first half, the Hawkeyes free-fell to 29.7% (11 of 37) in the second, and their 3-point accuracy dropped from 57.1% (8 of 14) to 0% (0 of 13).
“The key there was, we were scoring,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “So we were able to get our defense back. In the second half, we were missing, and they were in transition where they’re really good.”
Once again, the Terps’ five starters were the linchpins in the result. All five scored at least 16 points and combined for 95 of the team’s 101 points. Willard said the chemistry among the starting group is becoming more evident.
“I think they’re playing really well in the sandbox, as I like to say,” he said. “They kind of know when someone’s going to shoot it, and they don’t get frustrated when someone shoots it. They know they’re going to get their shots, they know they’re going to get their touches. I think earlier in the year when I was bringing guys in and out, we got antsy a little bit. I just think they all kind of know they’re going to get theirs, and I think it’s just relaxing a little bit.”
It took a half, but the defense woke up
When Iowa dumped 51 points in the first half, it became the first opponent to score that much in the opening frame against Maryland since Feb. 10, 2022, when — guess who — the Hawkeyes produced 57 points in an eventual 110-87 thrashing.
And Iowa crossed the 50-point threshold on Sunday without two starters, sophomore power forward Owen Freeman (season-ending finger surgery) and graduate student shooting guard Drew Thelwell (ankle), and two reserves, redshirt junior power forward Riley Mulvey (illness) and freshman small forward Cooper Koch (season-ending injury).
While Willard said the players spent much of halftime reviewing film of turnovers that the Hawkeyes converted into points, the Terps rediscovered their defense. As mentioned above, Iowa’s first-half efficiency from 3-point range was nonexistent in the second half, and Maryland appeared more active staying on its assignments and using its hands to make four steals.
“In the first half, we took a few plays off that we’d like to have back — getting over flared screens, coming back up on pindowns, not being aware of what was going on,” sophomore shooting guard Rodney Rice said. “In the second half, we did a better job.”
Despite ranking second in the Big Ten in scoring defense allowing 67.2 points per game, the Terps have surrendered 70 or more points in 11 conference games compared with 14 last winter. And there are still five more games in the regular season before next month’s league tournament.
For his part, Willard sounded confident that the players would figure it out in the second half against the Hawkeyes.
“Eventually, they’re not going to make every shot,” he said. “I loved our defense. I loved the way we switched out in the second half. I thought our pick-and-roll defense was much better in the second half. Our first half, I don’t know what we were doing. But it was a good adjustment by the guys.”
Top-four seed still attainable
While owning an identical 10-5 record in the conference with UCLA, the Terps own the tiebreaker for fifth place in the Big Ten courtesy of a 79-61 win in their head-to-head meeting on Jan. 10.
But loftier goals remain. Maryland is just one game in the loss column behind No. 16 Wisconsin (20-5, 10-4) for fourth place, and the Terps own the head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to a 76-68 victory on Jan. 29. The top four seeds in the conference tournament secure a double bye to the quarterfinals.
Maryland is a full game behind No. 13 Purdue (19-7, 11-4), but the Boilermakers own the head-to-head tiebreaker via an 83-78 win on Dec. 8. While No. 14 Michigan State (20-5, 11-3) and No. 12 Michigan (20-5, 12-2) might seem out of reach, the Terps face both teams in the regular season, hosting the Spartans on Feb. 26 and visiting the Wolverines on March 5.
Maryland is 15-1 at Xfinity Center, which is tied for the third-most victories among Division I schools. Only St. John’s (16-0) and Missouri (16-1) have more home wins.
That might bode well for the Terps, who play three of their final five games in College Park. So Sunday’s development did not escape the attention of junior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie or Willard.
“That’s a big win,” Gillespie said before alluding to Thursday’s home game against Southern California (14-11, 6-8) and Michigan State. “We’ve got two more coming up, and we’ve got to let that carry over and keep trying to grind out wins.”
Said Willard: “It’s February. Everyone’s huge. Everyone’s battling for seeding, positioning and everything. So to get off this homestand with a W is huge.”
Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.
USC at No. 20 Maryland
Thursday, 8:30 p.m.
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