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Let’s remember all the craziness from the Maryland-Iowa basketball game

This is the Maryland Minute, a short story followed by a roundup of Terps-related news.

By Thomas Kendziora
Iowa v Maryland Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Maryland basketball beat Iowa by 18 points Sunday night. The Terps moved to 3-2 in the Big Ten, while the Hawkeyes moved to 0-5. The final score is reasonable, but let’s talk about how much craziness there was on the way there.

Sunday’s bout was close for a long time. The teams combined for 92 points in the first half, with Maryland leading 48-44 at the break. Five players in total were in double figures at halftime; Anthony Cowan, Kevin Huerter and Iowa’s top scorer, Tyler Cook, weren’t among them. Michal Cekovsky and Dion Wiley combined for 23.

Also, Fran McCaffery blew a gasket at midcourt.

So the teams took a break after that, and Iowa’s Isaiah Moss, who had 15 in the first half, went on a personal 8-0 run early in the second. Then the game went back and forth for a while before Maryland pulled away. Bruno Fernando provided a million exclamation points down the stretch.

(The other side had some exciting dunks, too).

If the contest itself wasn’t weird enough, Iowa’s plane got hit on the tarmac and the Hawkeyes couldn’t leave College Park Sunday night.

It’s still early January, and the game ended up not close. But the craziest things can happen in blowouts, and there was so much going on all at once Sunday night. We’ll probably talk about Fernando’s poster dunks when recapping this season; we probably won’t talk about McCaffery’s tantrum, but it’s still worth enjoying. Countless players turned in notable performances on both sides, from Moss and Fernando to Michal Cekovsky and even Joshua Tomaic.

Maryland will return to the floor at Ohio State on Thursday. With the Buckeyes sitting at the top of the Big Ten after upsetting No. 1 Michigan State, a game as hectic as Sunday’s will be a welcome sight.

In other news

Women’s basketball also won Sunday, handling Wisconsin on the road.

Maryland football has a new offensive line coach after hiring Bryan Stinespring from JMU.

Former Terps Yannick Ngakoue (Jaguars) and Trey Edmunds (Saints) are advancing in the NFL playoffs. Ngakoue is making headlines with this tweet (No. 64 on Buffalo is Richie Incognito).

Maryland lacrosse will be well-represented on Team USA at the 2018 World Championships.

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