Saturday night was not Indiana's finest hour, losing to Penn State, but Thursday night inside a raucous Assembly Hall, the Indiana Hoosiers gave the Iowa Hawkeyes more than they could handle.
The Hoosiers were looking for a marquee win and a win to prove their worth in the Big Ten title race, and this win over the number four Hawkeyes does just that.
Indiana's Fast Start
The Hoosiers have gotten out to fast starts all season long at home, and Thursday was no different. It may not have been right off of the bat per usual, but slowly but surely their lead grew and grew. Thomas Bryant was a big key in this as he had a fast start in scoring the basketball along with his rebounding.
The first few minutes, both sides were just feeling each other out, but after a Mike Gesell lay up with 17:01, Indiana ripped off a big 20-6 run to set the tone for the early going.
Indiana’s lead sprouted out to 16 at its biggest with 6:03 to play in the first half, but Iowa wasn’t going to make it easy on the Hoosiers as the Hawkeyes methodically worked their way back into the game and had it down to a manageable 45-38 deficit at halftime.
All of a sudden, what looked like a game Indiana had well within its grasp was starting to slip just a bit.
Hawkeyes Give Hoosiers Their Best Punch
Iowa is a team that has been down before and has bounced back, and tonight was no different to start the second half. Jarrod Uthoff has been a big part of that and he keyed their comeback with a game high 24 points.
The Hawkeyes carried their late first half momentum into a strong open to the second half in which they opened on a 9-0 run to take a 47-45 lead. What was once a 16-point Indiana lead was gone, and the Hoosiers would have to find a way to bounce back.
"When you've got a team like that [Iowa], you've got to believe you can get it done," Indiana coach Tom Crean said. "This is the best team we've played top to bottom."
Iowa controlled the game for the first 10 minutes of the second half and the Hoosiers were looking for answers. Their shot that was once falling in the first half, was struggling to find the bottom of the net and a reliable scorer in Yogi Ferrell was having a rough go of it. All at the same time, it seemed that Jarrod Uthoff couldn’t miss.
That was until a 14-2 run gave the Hoosiers the lead back and all of a sudden, Iowa was back up against it.
Hoosiers' Strong Finish
“I’ve got to thank our crowd,” Crean said. “It was excruciatingly loud.”
That noise was giving Iowa fits all night and it was really giving the Hoosiers a boost. Down the stretch after some big buckets, the Assembly Hall crowd was about as loud as it’s ever been and Crean even said it might have broken the decibel level record.
"I thought we played through adversity and we found a way to win," Ferrell said. "This is another step in the right direction for our team."
The loudest it may have gotten all night was from the 8:52 mark on when Indiana took the lead by way of a Max Bielfeldt tied the game at 60. Then 42 seconds later, Collin Hartman gave Indiana a lead they never gave up from their on out.
Down the stretch, Indiana kept extending their lead and then held off Iowa when they were desperate at the end. Some big free throws and an even bigger Troy Williams jumper with 44 seconds left and the shot clock expiring gave the Hoosiers a seven-point lead and that was too much for the Hawkeyes to overcome.
"Troy was like Lazarus, he resurrected himself a few times," Crean said.
Indiana Stays Connected
The Hoosiers have usually had one or two main scorers this season, but Thursday night they spread it around very nicely for a balanced effort. The bench played a big role in this one and outscored the Iowa bench 28-0.
"They [the bench] came in and gave us great energy, Juwan especially,” Ferrell said. “That's what's so special about our team."
It was a game where really everyone had their own part in the win.
"We showed from top to bottom that we're maturing as a team,” Hartman said. “That's a big thing we stress, is showing that we're connected. We knew we had a good team from the beginning, but it was a matter of putting things together."
That connection proved big throughout the whole team as five players scored in double figures and including a team high 14 from Yogi Ferrell who was just 2-for-12 from the floor, but it was a team effort in this one.
The defense also stepped up in a big way for Indiana and they were able to put together one of their best wins of the season.
"To have so many people contribute, it's an honor to coach them, Crean said. “They work hard."
What's Next?
Indiana now heads to East Lansing to play Michigan State on Sunday while Iowa returns home to face Minnesota who is still winless in the conference.
"It only gets easier, now we get to go to East Lansing," Crean joked.