Hoosiers' Tourney Run Ends on Banked 3-Pointer by Iowa's Jordan Bohannon
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — There have been a lot of tough late losses for Indiana this year, but Saturday's aching 80-77 loss to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals might be the most difficult one to swallow.
It's a time and place thing.
This one hurt because Indiana did a lot of good things on Saturday, certainly enough to win and advance to only their second-ever tournament finale. Trayce Jackson-Davis, their best player, continued his breakout weekend with 31 points and 10 rebounds, and point guard Xavier Johnson had 20 points and nine assists.
They were stars.
But Iowa's star — Keegan Murray — was even better, scoring 32 points and making 8-of-10 three-pointers, many of them with a hand in his face. He got help too, especially down the stretch, where Indiana could not hold on to an eight-point lead in the final four-plus minutes.
And it was long-time Hoosier agitator Jordan Bohannon who added the final dagger, hitting the last of his three late three-pointers from 30 feet in the final second over the outstretched arm of Trey Galloway to give Iowa the 80-77 victory.
It ended a special tournament run for the Hoosiers, who upset Michigan and Illinois to get to the semifinals, and they played the red-hot Hawkeyes tougher than anyone lately. Now it's on — more than likely — to the NCAA Tournament, Indiana's first appearance since 2016.
"That was a tough loss,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson saisd. "You've got to give Iowa credit, because they kept banging away. But we had some miscues coming down the stretch defensively that I think that cost us, but I'm so thrilled and happy with our ball club and the way we compete.
"We've been in this position so much this season that, you know, these sting a little bit, but we'll get over this and get ready for tournament play if we are selected to play in the tournament. This team hadn't been in postseason play for a very long time, so these guys are excited about that, and they should be. I'm excited for them because they worked their butts off this year to put themselves in this position.''
Indiana got off to a blazing start, jumping out to a quick 15-3 lead, but Murray, a projected high lottery pick in the NBA draft, paired with his twin brother Kris to hit four three-pointers in a 2:04 span to get the Hawkeyes back in the game.
They tied it up at 17-17 with 8:39 left in the half, and no one led by more than five points the rest of the way until Indiana freshman Tamar Bates hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Indiana a 38-32 halftime lead. Jackson-Davis had 18 first-half points on 8-of-11 shooting.
Every time Indiana tried to pull away in the second half, Murray, a 6-foot-8 sophomore from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, reeled them back in. Indiana led by eight after 2-plus minutes, but then Murray mad three three-pointers to cut the lead to 49-48 at the 12:18 mark.
Indiana stayed ahead or tied for the next nine minutes, and went Jackson-Davis scored on a dunk off of a Johnson steal, the Hoosiers led 67-58 with 5:29 to go. Another Murray three and a Tony Perkins basket and free throw cut into the lead at 71-68.
Bohannon, the 6-foot-1 guard from Marion, Iowa, is the Big Ten's all-time leader with 452 made three-pointers, but he was just 1-for-7 shooting during the first 38 minutes.
But when he burst open after an Indiana defensive miscue, he hit a wide-open three to tie the game at 71 and then Murray hit his eighth three 30 seconds later to give Iowa the lead.
Jackson-Davis scored for Indiana, but then Bohannon made another three from the corner with 51 seconds to go put the Hawkeyes ahead 77-73.
Johnson made two free throws for Indiana, and then Trey Galloway got a steal while Indiana was pressing and hit Johnson for a layup to tie the score 77-77 with 30 seconds to go.
Iowa ran the clock down, but the Hoosiers defense refused to give them a good look. Bohannon hoisted a 30-footer with a second left, and it banked off the board and in for the win.
After a timeout, Johnson did get up a half-court heave before the buzzer but it missed long left.
"I saw the shot clock and then I saw he was pretty well defended and he was almost like probably four, five feet away from half court, so I knew he was going to hoist one up,'' Jackson-Davis said. "And then I saw the ball and I thought it was going to be long and then it banked in.
"Sometimes that's what happens. It's March, so obviously March Madness, it's crazy, crazy time of year. But even in that stadium and the electricity, an d just playing in that stadium, it was really cool. That last shot, the ball doesn't always bounce your way and obviously we're about one second away from going into overtime.''
Jackson-Davis was 15-for-21 shooting on the night, but the rest of his teammates were just 15-for-42. Miller Kopp hit two big threes late in the game, but he was just 2-for-11 shooting on the night. Parker Stewart and Trey Galloway were just 1-for-5 each. Indiana was 5-for-19 from three (26.3 percent), while Iowa made 14 threes on the day.
The Hoosiers finished 20-13 and now await their NCAA Tournament fate. They probably did enough to secure a bid, but they will at least have to sweat out Sunday night's Selection Show, which starts at 6 p.m. ET.
They proved a lot this week. And when they get in, no one is going to want to play them in the first round. Indiana basketball is on its way back. There's still a long way to go, but they've proved this week that they are capable of playing — and beating — anybody.
For Jackson-Davis, a junior from Greenwood, Ind., that's special.
"It means a lot to me because I'm a Hoosier born and bred, and just coming back for my third year playing for this guy next to me (Woodson), it's been an honor and a blessing,'' he said. "I'm just glad because we didn't have the year we wanted, but just showing people here at this tournament and just believing in what we were doing, that was important. He's going to help us get to where we need to be. And I think this tournament has shown that we're still here and Indiana basketball is going to get back on top here soon.''
Iowa is now 25-9 and will play the Purdue-Michigan State winner in Sunday's final. They've been the hottest team in the league lately, and they found a way to win late.
"I couldn't be more proud of our team. We beat a tremendous team today, an incredibly well-coached team. They fought, and Trayce is a handful,'' Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "They kept coming, but so did we. I remember about four minutes to go we're down five and I just felt like in the huddle that these guys kept believing and that's what they had to do.
"We were right there, and we put ourselves in a position to be right there against a team that's really good, and was playing really well.''
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