Iowa's Jordan Bohannon a Thorn in Indiana's Side For Several Years
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The last time Indiana saw Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon, he wasn’t making any shots. Bohannon went 0-for-9 against the Hoosiers when they defeated the Hawkeyes 81-69 on Jan. 21.
He has slowly bounced back since then.
Bohannon has averaged 11 points in Iowa’s last three games, including an 18-point game in Thursday’s 89-85 loss to Ohio State. As a fifth-year senior, Bohannon knows the time is ticking on his final season. The Hawkeyes are 1-2 since the loss to Indiana and have slipped into fifth place in the Big Ten, two games behind leader Michigan.
“There’s a lot of season left,” Bohannon said after Thursday’s game. “We’ve just got to keep moving forward. We’ve got a long stretch ahead of us. There are a lot of chances to get our footing back. The character in this locker room says we can do that. We’ve done that on numerous occasions in my career, to be able to respond and continue to respond to adversity.”
It’s been an up-and-down season for Bohannon, who missed most of last season after undergoing two hip surgeries — one before the season and one in December. He has had two 24-point games, against North Carolina and Northwestern. But he’s also had two scoreless games — the one against the Hoosiers and one against Western Illinois in early December when he played just 19 minutes and took only two shots.
It’s been a slow process in his return, Bohannon admitted. He’s struggled throughout his career with various injuries, and although this is his first season of being, as he has said, virtually pain-free, there’s still been the matter of getting back into game shape.
He looked strong in a five-game stretch before that first game against the Hoosiers, averaging 17 points while making 22-of-35 three-pointers.
“I didn’t feel like myself in the first seven, eight games,” Bohannon said. “I just really hadn’t been moving as well. I know I have a lot of catching up to do, to get back in my rhythm.”
It’s his veteran presence that Iowa coach Fran McCaffery appreciates.
“To me, he's kind of always been the same way,” McCaffery said. “He's incredibly confident. He plays the game with a keen understanding of what's necessary. He plays the game with a swag that you need. He's always been a great shooter. He gets our break and what we're trying to run and he gets time-and-score situations.
“So I don't know that there's been a huge change in him. He's kind of always been -- he was that way in high school. He's that way here.”
Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon has made 21 career three-pointers against Indiana during his five-year career. (USA TODAY Sports)
It was something McCaffery saw right away in his freshman season. He recalled an 83-69 win at Maryland, when Bohannon scored 24 points, making 8-of-10 three-pointers.
“You think back, and I mentioned it when we played Maryland, the performance he had at Maryland when they were honoring their national championship team and it was a packed house, it was as loud as any building I've ever been in, and he drops eight threes and loads (freshman forward) Tyler Cook up on his way to (21 points), and he had only played about 14 or 15 college games,” McCaffery said.
“That's what he does. So I haven't seen a big difference. And I think what makes him special is that he's always been consistent that way.”
The Hawkeyes will need Bohannon’s consistency the rest of the season. They could be without guard CJ Fredrick, who is shooting 50 percent in 3-pointers this season. Fredrick, who missed the second half of the game against Indiana, has missed two of Iowa’s last three games with a lower leg injury and is “day-to-day,” according to McCaffery.
The time pressure, though, is on Bohannon as well, as he knows his college career is winding down.
“We’ve got to keep moving forward,” said Bohannon, who has averaged 13.1 points in nine games against the Hoosiers in his career. “We’ve got a long, long stretch ahead of us, still. A lot of away games left, a lot of chances left.
“All the upperclassmen know that what matters is what happens at the end of the turn in March, what deciphers between what’s a really good team and a great team. We think we still have a really great team here and we have a chance to continue to build our resumé.”
Iowa returns to Bloomington for a Noon ET clash with the Hoosiers on Sunday, and no one is expecting Bohannon to go 0-for-9 against Indiana. He's had many great games against them during his five-year career. He's made 21 career three-pointers against the Hoosiers.
Here's Bohannon's career vs. Indiana:
- Jan. 21, 2021: Zero points on 0-for-9 shooting, including 0-for-8 from three as No. 4 Iowa lost to Indiana 81-69 in Iowa City.
- Feb. 22, 2019: He scored 17 points in a 76-70 overtime victory in Iowa City, making 5-of-9 three-pointers.
- Feb. 7, 2019: Bohannon had 25 points in a 77-72 win in Bloomington, where he made 5-of-8 three-pointers.
- Feb. 17, 2018: Bohannon scored 10 points in an 84-82 loss to Indiana in Iowa City. He was 2-for-10 from three that night.
- Dec. 4, 2017: He had 7 points in a 77-64 loss to Indiana in Bloomington. He was 2-for-6 from three-point range.
- March 9, 2017: Bohannon had his greatest game against the Hoosiers as a freshman in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, hitting six three-pointers and scoring 24 points in a 95-73 rout.
- Feb. 21, 2017: Bohannon scored 9 points in a 96-90 overtime win over Indiana in Iowa City. He was 1-for-4 from three, but made all six free throws.
Bohannon has heard his fair share of hearty boos during his games at Assembly Hall. That won't happen on Sunday with no fans in the iconic building, but it should be an intense atmosphere all the same.
As a freshman in 2017, Iowa's Jordan Bohannon tries to defend a shot by Indiana's Josh Newkirk. (USA TODAY Sports)
