One of the nation's top offenses hit a stunning snag on Thursday night as No. 4 Iowa took a late nosedive in a 81-69 home loss to Indiana. The Hawkeyes went 11 minutes in the second half without a field goal as the Hoosiers turned a nine-point, second-half deficit into a double-digit lead in the final minutes.
The final tally for Iowa (12-3, 6-2 Big Ten) was its lowest of the season and attributable to factors beyond just an impressive defensive effort from the Hoosiers. Iowa entered ranked 14th nationally in made 3-pointers per game at 10.4 but hit just 5-of-23 as Luka Garza's supporting cast all but disappeared in the second half.
Sophomore guard CJ Frederick, who shoots a team-high 51% from 3-point range did not play in the second half due to a lower leg injury, while second-leading scorer Joe Wieskamp only scored 1 of his 16 points in the second half. Finally, redshirt senior guard Jordan Bohannon finished 0-for-9 from the floor after averaging 17 points per game during Iowa's five-game winning streak entering Thursday's contest.
The collective inefficiency of that trio left Garza fighting off defenders in the post. The nation's leading scorer finished with 28 points but made just 4-of-11 shots in the second half as the Hoosiers swarmed him at every opportunity.
It was a marquee win for Indiana (9-6, 4-4 Big Ten), whose Big Ten victories before Thursday had come against a trio from the league's bottom half in Penn State, Maryland and Nebraska. Though non conference victories against Stanford and Providence are solid wins on the Hoosiers' resume, fourth-year coach Archie Miller needed a statement win as he tries to guide the program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016. Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers with 23 points and Rob Phinisee contributed 18.