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Indiana Uses Balanced Attack To Upset #4 Iowa

BLOOMINGTON, IN - FEBRUARY 11: Mike Gesell #10 of the Iowa Hawkeyes defends against Troy Williams #5 of the Indiana Hoosiers in the second half of the game at Assembly Hall on February 11, 2016 in Bloomington, Indiana. Indiana defeated Iowa 85-78. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

The Indiana Hoosiers are now tied atop the Big Ten standings after upsetting #4 Iowa 85-78, Thursday night in Bloomington, Ill. Coming off an upset loss at Penn State, the Hoosiers desperately needed to find their groove before playing 5 of their final 7 games against teams ranked in the Top 25.

Indiana came out strong, a Collin Hartman three-pointer with a little over six minutes remaining in the first half extended the Hoosiers’ lead to 36-20.

The Hawkeyes, however, would manage to get the score down to just 7 and only trailed 45-38 at the half. Iowa continued to play well on both ends of the court and not even 3 minutes into the second half, a layup by junior guard Peter Jok gave the Hawkeyes a 47-45 lead.

The Big Ten rivals would trade buckets for the next nine minutes with Indiana occasionally tying the game but never taking the lead until the 8:14 mark, on a Hartman layup to make it 62-61.

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That bucket gave the Hoosiers the lead for good, two possessions later, senior guard Yogi Ferrell hit a corner 3 to extend the lead to 70-62. Ferrell shot poorly from the field, but still managed to lead the Hoosiers (20-5, 10-2) in scoring with 14 points. Ferrell made his first and last shot attempts from the field and went 8-8 from the free throw line.

Iowa saw senior forward Jarrod Uthoff go for 24 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Indiana bench outscored the Hawkeyes’ bench 28-0. Indiana had 4 players score at least 9 points in the game.

The win puts Indiana in a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten, along with the Hawkeyes and #2 Maryland. Indiana’s next game will be in East Lansing as they take on the #8 Michigan State Spartans on February 14. The Hawkeyes will also look to rebound on the 14th when they host Minnesota.

PHOTO: BLOOMINGTON, IN – FEBRUARY 11: Mike Gesell #10 of the Iowa Hawkeyes defends against Troy Williams #5 of the Indiana Hoosiers in the second half of the game at Assembly Hall on February 11, 2016 in Bloomington, Indiana. Indiana defeated Iowa 85-78. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Nick Vigliotti