INDIANAPOLIS — Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon couldn’t remember how many times he’d tried to make a long winning triple in his backyard. Or how many times they fired.
Regardless of. Because when it came to the real thing, he did it.
With the shot clocked out in a tie, with a Big Ten Tournament championship spot on the line, and the ball in his hands, Bohannon did what he always does—hit, this time right from behind the midcourt logo.
And in the blink of an eye, the ball bounced off the backboard and over the net in 0.8 seconds to give Iowa No. 24 an 80-77 victory over Indiana in the first of two Saturday semi-finals.
“It’s something that can’t be put into words,” Bohannon said. “You dream about it in your backyard when you shoot there, or at the YMCA, or wherever. So when that happened, I just started running in circles because I really didn’t know where to go.”
Iowa fans know where the third 2,000-point scorer in school history belonged—he shot himself out of a crisis.
Bohannon scored just 12 points against the amazing ninth-place Hoosiers. But he made three big threes in the last 2.5 minutes to give the fifth-seeded Hawkeyes (25-9) their third win in three days. They then take on No. 9 Purdue on Sunday to try for their first conference crown since 2006, which is one of the reasons Bohannon is back this season.
While they may not have moved forward without Bohannon’s late-game shots, they still needed all-conference forward Keegan Murray to get some work done. He finished with 32 points and nine rebounds and moved into position for another board in case Bohannon missed.
But the final throw didn’t even go the way coach Fran McCaffery had envisioned it.
“He was supposed to shoot in the corner, but they jammed him, thanks to them,” McCaffrey said. “But he just kept coming. You know, while he’s shooting, I think it’s better than anything I can draw.”
Bohannon made sure of this despite coming off the field 4 of 10 and trying to rally the Hawks, who were only 122 seconds behind until Murray’s 3 gave them a 74–73 lead with 1:56 to play.
Bohannon’s next 3 with 50.1 seconds left made it 77-73 and seemed to seal the win.
Instead, Xavier Johnson made two free throws, and when Indiana (20-13) forced him to pass, Johnson scored a breakaway goal to equalize with 30.7 seconds left. Johnson finished with 20 points and nine assists.
And so it remained until Bohannon’s bank fired. Johnson’s desperate 60-foot dash bounced off the backboard, sealing Iowa’s victory.
“I knew he was going to throw the ball and it worked, sometimes it happens,” said Trace Jackson-Davies, who scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Indiana. “This is March madness. jump in your direction and obviously we were about 1 second into overtime.”
BIG PICTURE
Indiana: If two wins in two days over the 2020-21 Big Ten and 2021-22 conference co-champions weren’t enough to secure a spot in the 68-team NCAA Tournament, Saturday’s game should have done the trick. Indiana controlled most of the game against one of America’s highest scoring teams, but lost.
Iowa: There’s no doubt that Hawkeyes shooters are a problem for most teams. But after Iowa scored 196 points in two games, it took a late flurry to secure it. After Sunday’s game, there will be no more back-to-back competitions on the schedule, allowing Iowa to operate at full capacity for the remainder of this season.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE SURVEY
Given the surprises that occurred Thursday and Friday in Indianapolis, as well as other conference events around the country this weekend, the Hawkeyes should move up in the final rankings of the top 25. The more interesting question will be whether the Hoosiers’ breakout weekend will send them into the poll for the first time this season.
STATIC PACKAGE
Indiana: Race Thompson scored 11 points and seven rebounds. … The Hoosiers were just 5 of 19 from three-point range in their third game in three days. … Indiana advanced to the semi-finals for the first time since 2013 and won multiple conference tournament games for the first time in 2003.
Iowa: Murray was 11 of 17 from the field and 8 of 10 on triples. The rest of the Hawkeyes were 6 out of 22 in threes. … Patrick McCaffery finished with 16 points. … Tony Perkins, who played schoolball at Indy, had eight points and five assists.
NEXT
Indiana: Will find out Sunday night if they’ve had their first NCAA Tournament since 2016.
Iowa: Meets No. 3 seeded Purdue in Sunday’s championship game.
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