Indiana vs. Iowa: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2016 Regular Season

The No. 12 Indiana Hoosiers are champions.   

Outright Big Ten champions that is, as the Hoosiers clinched their second solo conference crown in the last four seasons with an 81-78 road victory Tuesday over the No. 16 Iowa Hawkeyes. Head coach Tom Crean's team is now 14-3 in the Big Ten and a full two games ahead of the Michigan State Spartans, Maryland Terrapins and Wisconsin Badgers in the loss column in the standings with one game remaining. 

As for the once-promising Hawkeyes, they are now in the midst of a crippling four-game losing streak at a less than ideal time with Selection Sunday approaching on March 13. 

Senior leader Yogi Ferrell led the way with a conference crown on the line with 20 points and five assists. He also drilled the biggest shot of the contest in the final minute, as Indiana on BTN shared:

Indiana Basketball passed along Ferrell's place in conference lore after the win:

The Hoosiers also received a double-double from Thomas Bryant when he posted 12 points and 10 rebounds. Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis praised the big man during the victory:

Iowa got 18 points and eight rebounds from Jarrod Uthoff, but he only shot five of 17 from the field. The Hawkeyes still had a chance to tie on the final possession but missed two three-pointers and sent the fans at Carver–Hawkeye Arena home disappointed.

Indiana wasted little time jumping out to a quick lead in the first half because of its ability to force turnovers on the defensive side. Derek Young of Scout.com provided statistical context for the Hoosiers' early start:

While the pressure defense helped the Hoosiers in the first half, the offense also played a significant role in their 47-41 halftime lead. As usual, Ferrell set the tone with his ability to penetrate the defense and find his teammates for easy looks. Indiana Basketball captured an example of his game-changing speed on display Tuesday:

Ferrell continued his solid play in the second half and added his name to the Indiana history book, per Indiana Basketball:

The Hoosiers rolled to a double-digit lead in the opening minutes of the second half, and Ryan Fagan of Sporting News pointed to the offense as the main reason why:

Reid Forgave of FoxSports.com looked at things from Iowa's perspective:

There was one thing keeping the Hawkeyes in the contest as Indiana took a 67-57 lead into the under-12-minute timeout. Jeff Rabjohns of Rivals' Peegs.com gave a look at the foul situation:

Bryant picked up his fourth personal, which made the situation all the more worrisome for the Hoosiers. Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star was not pleased with the way the game's officiating:

Partially propelled by Indiana's soft defense due to foul trouble, Iowa went on a run to close the gap to 70-67 when Nicholas Baer hit a corner three with less than eight minutes left. Eamonn Brennan of ESPN.com discussed Iowa's momentum during a stoppage in play:

Right on cue, Baer buried another long ball to tie the game at 70, and Alex Bozich of Inside the Hall gave the Indiana defense some advice:

The two teams entered the under-four-minute timeout tied at 74, but Indiana's Collin Hartman fouled out. The Hoosiers defense was letting the team down, and Brad Evans of Yahoo Sports reflected on that end of the ball:

However, both teams showed impressive defense down the stretch, and Indiana held a 77-75 lead heading into the final minute.

That's when Ferrell took the game into his own superstar hands with arguably Indiana's most important shot of the season. He drilled the contested three-pointer with less than 40 seconds remaining to put the Hoosiers up 80-75. Myron Medcalf of ESPN reacted to the dagger:

Evans commented on Iowa's lackluster finish:

While the Hawkeyes struggled down the stretch, they did close the gap to three when Anthony Clemmons hit a three-pointer. Iowa then got the ball back with six seconds left after Indiana turned it over on the ensuing inbounds pass.

Clemmons air-balled a three, but Adam Woodbury grabbed the offensive rebound and gave his team one more chance after it called timeout with two seconds left. However, Peter Jok missed an open look from the corner, and Indiana fans everywhere breathed a sigh of relief. Jeremy Price of the Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times commented on the finish:  

While it was a stressful final few seconds, Indiana is once again atop the Big Ten.

What's Next?

Indiana clinched the Big Ten title Tuesday but will still look to build momentum and improve its potential seed in the NCAA tournament in the regular-season finale against No. 14 Maryland on Sunday. The Hoosiers are undefeated at home in conference play and have an opportunity to add a quality win to an already-impressive resume before Selection Sunday. 

Indiana has not played Maryland this season, but Big Ten fans will get the treat of watching Ferrell battle it out with Melo Trimble in the backcourt. 

As for Iowa, it has lost five of its last six games and has to find a way to stop the bleeding before the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments if it doesn't want to spoil what was once a promising campaign. The Hawkeyes go on the road to face a Michigan squad Saturday that is on the Big Dance bubble and also desperate for a win. 

Iowa was once a Top Five team this season and is running out of time to stop this nosedive. 

Postgame Reaction

Crean was emotional when he addressed his team after the win but made sure to stress the importance of not overlooking the final regular-season game, via the Big Ten Network:

Guards Nick Zeisloft and Ferrell are part of the senior class Crean mentioned. Zeisloft’s confidence in his backcourt mate’s ability to drill the critical three in the final moments never wavered, per Keefer: “I knew it was going in. I could see it in his eyes.”

Crean put the victory into perspective, per Luke Meredith of the Associated Press, via ESPN.com: “Our guys they've responded all year, and that's the key. As far as winning the championship with this group, I probably don't have all the words for that figured out yet. I just know it's an absolute honor.”

On the other side, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery responded when asked if his team would bounce back from its recent funk, per Meredith, via ESPN.com: “I think we already have. I'm not worried about that at all. We were in a position to win. We fought.”

Uthoff reflected on his struggles from the field, per Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register: “I had a bunch of good looks. They just didn’t go down. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

However, the forward also looked at the silver linings from the loss, per Leistikow: “There’s absolutely some positives to take away from this game. They’re a great team. I thought we fought them hard. We had a lapse there at the beginning of the second half. That really killed us.”

The second-half lapse in the game was something of a microcosm of Iowa’s second-half struggles during the season’s schedule. An impressive performance in the Big Ten tournament would go a long way toward rectifying the recent slide, but it is hard to envision this team making much noise in March given the way it has played.