No contest. It was Iowa all the way. By the way, Maryland, welcome to the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes outshot and outhustled Terrapins of the Atlantic Coast Conference [and, in 2014, of the Big Ten] to win Tuesday night's National Invitation Tournament semifinal round game, 71-60, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. What's more, Iowa's Fran McCaffery clearly outcoached Maryland's Mark Turgeon as the Hawkeyes improved their record to 25-12. So Iowa will play Baylor of the Big 12 Conference in Thursday night's championship game. The Bears defeated Brigham Young in Tuesday night's first game. I'm on record as predicting that Iowa will win the title, and I feel even stronger about it after tonight's game. With the exception of Louisville and Wichita State, which will be playing in the NCAA Final Four on Saturday in Atlanta, Iowa is playing the best collegiate basketball in the nation. The Hawkeyes are dazzling fans with their late-season strength. Teams in the NIT have been no match for them. They excel on both offense and defense, they rebound very well, and they have a will to win that is unmatched. Devyn Marble scored 21 points and had nine rebounds, Eric May 12 and Aaron White collected 10 points and had eight rebounds Tuesday. Center Alex Len led Maryland [25-13] with 16 points and nine rebounds.
