By ADAM HENSLEY | [email protected]
Indiana (18-14) rode a blistering hot shooting performance in route to a 95-73 win over Iowa (18-14) on Thursday, handing the Hawkeyes their fourth-straight Big Ten Tournament loss by a double-digit seeded team.
In Washington, D.C., the Hawkeyes just couldn’t get stops on defense.
Indiana, a team famous for heating up in a heartbeat, surged on 60 percent shooting effort, including 60 percent from 3-point range.“The first thing you got to do is give Indiana credit,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “They executed. They moved the ball. They took good shots. But obviously from our perspective, our defense was not nearly what it needed to be to compete with a team that has that many weapons.”
Jordan Bohannon (24 points, 6-of-11 from downtown, 10 assists) and Cordell Pemsl (14 points and 11 rebounds) were Iowa’s two bright spots in a dark second half, in which Indiana outscored Iowa 52-33.
Bohannon, who had five 3s in the first half, only managed to hit one of his four attempts from deep in the second.
Both Bohannon’s and Pemsl’s double-doubles were the first of their careers, and Bohannon tied Iowa’s Big Ten Tournament record with his 10 dimes.
Meanwhile, senior Peter Jok mustered 9 points in an off-shooting afternoon (4-of-11 from the field), compared with his 21-point performance against Penn State, in which he hit four of his five 3-point shots.
“They were really keyed in the whole game,” Jok said. “I wasn’t trying to force anything. I was just letting the game come to me. I was trying to find other ways to get involved on offense other than just shooting.”
Indiana’s James Blackmon Jr. exploded for 23 points. Although he led the Hoosier charge offensively, teammates De’Ron Davis, Thomas Bryant, and Devonte Green all scored in double figures as well.
Iowa won the turnover battle (12 compared with Indiana’s 17), but its mistakes came at inopportune times, adding fuel to Indiana’s scoring runs.
Neither team defended the paint very well. Indiana and Iowa scored 46 and 32 points from in close, respectively.
Late in the game, Indiana connected on 10-straight buckets, effectively smothering whatever comeback Iowa thought about building.
“You see this typically on the road,” McCaffery said. “Team makes a run, and you start quick-shooting the ball. They get some transition baskets. They get some and-ones. This wasn’t a road game, but it sort of had that feel.”
Iowa’s defense, which had been tough in its previous four games, collapsed in the nation’s capital, allowing the fourth-most points this season (101 to Minnesota, 100 to Memphis, 98 to Omaha).
It was the 11th time this season the Hawkeyes allowed 85 points or more.
Despite the quick Washington trip, the team maintains the belief that it’s a tournament team.
“I believe [we belong in],” Pemsl said. “When you look at our résumé, we have good wins against ranked teams on the road and ranked teams at home. Obviously, that’s our one goal right now, is to make it [to the NCAA Tournament]. [We] basically needed to win tonight, but we’re hoping [the selection committee] gives us the opportunity.”
Iowa seemed like a team poised for a deep run in the conference tournament and to get the team’s first Big Ten Tournament win since 2013; the Hawkeyes came in as one of the Big Ten’s hottest teams, essentially inserting themselves into NCAA Tournament talk after big upset wins on the road.
March Madness lived up to its hype — for Iowa fans, that madness is having to face another one-and-done in the Big Ten Tournament and an agonizing wait till the tournament selection show.
