March 11, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Darius Adams (1) defends Iowa Hawkeyes guard Isaiah Howard (23) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Image Iowa used turnovers and a partnership from Bennett Stirtz and Cooper Koch to outscore Maryland in the second half to advance to the third round of the Big Ten tournament Wednesday afternoon in Chicago.
Koch didn’t mind getting a nosebleed. The freshman forward scored a team-high and career-high 19 points, and Stirtz added 17 points after a quiet first half. Stirtz also had eight assists and six rebounds.
Koch hit his fifth 3-pointer in transition to put ninth-seeded Iowa ahead 59-47 with less than seven minutes remaining.
Iowa (21-11) ended its three-game losing streak. The Hawkeyes make their first appearance on the court again Thursday at noon ET against eighth-seeded Ohio State (20-11) at the United Center. Iowa beat the Buckeyes 74-57 on February 25.
Maryland (12-21) committed 16 turnovers and missed 14 of 21 3-point attempts.
Isaiah Watts finished with 12 points, hitting four 3-pointers, and Darius Adams had a team-high 14 points for the 17th-seeded Terrapins. Surging scorer Andre Mills was 1 of 13 from the field for Maryland, which trailed by double digits for most of the second half.
Iowa went on a 21-0 run and Maryland coach Buzz Williams shook his head with his second timeout with 80 seconds to play before Schurz found Koch on the right wing to score three of the second half plays and bury the Terrapins in a 50-34 hole.
Maryland held Stirtz, the Big Ten’s third-leading scorer at 20.2 points per game, to four points in the first half. He ignited Iowa with back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a run that gave the Hawkeyes a 42-34 lead with 14 minutes left in the game.
Streaky Maryland fell behind early, but pivoted to a 2-3 zone defense and knocked down open shots en route to a 15-0 run to take a double-digit halftime lead, 21-10. Iowa went on an 11-2 run of its own, helped by eight turnovers by Maryland, which accounted for 33 first-half points, and cut it to 26-25 in the final minute of the first half.
Maryland began its Big Ten schedule with a 1-10 record. The Terrapins gained momentum from a narrow loss to No. 9 Illinois State in the regular season finale and led the way in Tuesday’s tournament win over Oregon.
–Field level media
