Maryland basketball vs. Iowa preview: Newly-ranked Terps play 2nd straight road game

Maryland basketball plays its second straight road game Thursday against Iowa. The Terps are 4-1 in Big Ten play with two road conference wins, and they’ll look to improve to 3-0 away from College Park.

Counting its win over Illinois on Saturday, Maryland is playing four out of five games on the road, with a home tilt against Rutgers on Tuesday before trips to Minnesota and Ohio State next week.

The game tips off at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Iowa Hawkeyes (11-8)

2015-16 record: 22-11

Head coach: Fran McCaffery

KenPom ranking: 86 (Maryland is 48)

Players to watch

Peter Jok, guard, senior, 6’6/205, No. 14. Jok has become Iowa’s do-it-all guy with Jarrod Uthoff gone. The Hawkeyes have needed every bit of his 22 points per game, as he’s one of only two players on the team averaging double figures. Iowa needs Jok to be on, as he shoots 37 percent of Iowa’s total shots.

Cordell Pemsl, forward, freshman, 6’8/249, No. 35. The first half of Iowa’s freshman forward duo, Pemsl is averaging nine points and five rebounds on 64 percent shooting.

Tyler Cook, forward, freshman, 6’9/253, No. 5. The other half of that duo, Cook shares a similar statline to Pemsl. He’s averaging 12 points per game, and attempts three and a half more shots per game than Pemsl does.

Strengths

Shooting. Iowa has the 75th-best effective field goal percentage in the country. The team has five players who shoot 49 percent or above from the field. The Hawkeyes shoot 36 percent from three-point range and 52 percent from inside.

Not fouling opponents. Their opponents don’t get to the line too often. Their free throw attempts per field goal attempt rate is 27 percent, which is good for 36th in the country.

Weaknesses

Forcing turnovers. The Hawkeyes force the 234th-most turnovers in the country. That’ll be an interesting matchup against a Maryland team that turns the ball over at the 231st-highest rate in the country. They also only force the 298th-most steals in the nation.

Defensive rebounding. The Hawkeyes lets opponents get 31 percent of rebounds on their end of the floor. Jok, who’s only 6’6, leads the team in boards with 6.2 per game.

Predictions

KenPom’s prediction: Maryland 76, Iowa 75. Terps have a 52 percent chance of winning.