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By JAMES ALLAN
hawkeyesports.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Junior Jordan Bohannon scored 11 of his game-high 25 points in the final 90 seconds, leading the 20th-ranked University of Iowa men’s basketball team to a 77-72 road victory over Indiana on Thursday night at Assembly Hall.
The Hawkeyes led 58-48 with 11:14 to play before the Hoosiers made their surge. Indiana closed to within 63-59 with 6:15 left and had it within three (64-61) with 3:47 remaining.
With Iowa enduring a three-plus minute drought and misfiring on seven straight field goal attempts, junior Tyler Cook stepped up with one of the biggest shots of the game with 2:23 left. With the shot clock winding down, Cook hit a turnaround jumper over an Indiana defender to give the Hawkeyes a 66-61 lead with 2:23 left.
Indiana closed to within three a second time on a second-chance dunk from Juwan Morgan before Bohannon went to work. The junior drilled a 3-pointer from the corner (off a Cook assist) with 1:31 left to give Iowa a six-point lead, and following another Morgan dunk, Bohannon did it again, hitting a deep dagger 3-pointer, to put Iowa up seven.
Bohannon then found a way to get the ball (to get fouled) and he made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to send the Hawkeyes to their 18th victory of the season.
“That was a really big win for us,” said Bohannon. “That’s a tough team, especially playing at their place.”
Bohannon made 7-of-13 field goals and five 3-pointers en route to his highest scoring output in a month. He also had six assists without a turnover in 36 minutes.
“I was being more of a facilitator in the first half and I tried to get the ball toward the end of the game and I tried to make some plays,” said Bohannon. “Luckily I was able to do that.”
Cook scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while freshman Joe Wieskamp scored 13 points — 12 coming in the first half.
The Hawkeyes shot 45 percent (27-of-60) for the game and made 10 3-pointers. Indiana had a higher overall field goal percentage, hitting 49.1 percent of its attempts, but the Hoosiers committed 12 turnovers against Iowa’s zone defense and the Hawkeyes turned those into 19 points.
Iowa stormed out to a 9-2 lead in the first two minutes before Indiana fought back to take a 15-11 lead. Trailing 18-16, the Hawkeyes used a 10-0 run to take a 26-18 lead — one Iowa wouldn’t relinquish. The Hawkeyes led for nearly 37 minutes in the contest.
Freshman Romeo Langford led the Hoosiers with 22 points, while Morgan finished with 17 points in 22 minutes.
QUOTING HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“Any win in this league this year is huge, any win on the road in this league, historically, is hard to come by, especially here. They’re coming off a big road win, and we’re coming off a big win. We’re thrilled with how we played and how we played together. It just makes the next one bigger.”
HAWKS STEP UP
Senior Nicholas Baer only scored five points and grabbed six rebounds, but he played 25 key minutes in Bloomington. Baer was on the floor with sophomore Luka Garza in foul trouble; he played 13 minutes and scored just four points.
“That’s what it takes for good teams down the stretch, you have to have those guys that can step up and make some plays, whether that is on the stat sheet or not,” said Bohannon. “We have guys that know their role and they know when they come in what they’re supposed to do.”
Junior Maishe Dailey scored four points and had three rebounds in 13 minutes and redshirt freshman Connor McCaffery had three points in 15 minutes.
WORTH NOTING
- Cook and Bohannon each reached 20 points for the 15th time in their careers.
- Cook scored 13 of his 21 points in the first half. The junior moved into a tie with Val Barnes for 26th on Iowa’s all-time scoring list.
- Bohannon’s 25 points moved him past Reggie Evans, Carl Cain, and Glen Worley for 42nd on Iowa’s career scoring chart.
- Tonight’s win snapped a three-game losing streak to the Hoosiers.
- Iowa has won three of its last four road games in the Big Ten.
- Fran McCaffery moved into second place on Iowa’s all-time wins list with tonight’s win surpassing Lute Olson (169).
ON THE HORIZON
Iowa returns to action on Sunday, hosting Northwestern at 5:31 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tickets are available by clicking HERE.
