Iowa strolled into Assembly Hall riding a wave of momentum. They left feeling just as good.
The Hawkeyes had just authored a historic comeback against Michigan State, rallying from 13 points down with 1:34 to play and from 11 back with :56 remaining. Iowa became just the fourth team in NCAA men’s basketball history to win after trailing by 11 or more with less than a minute remaining.
Even with all of that post-Spartan euphoria, Iowa had its own pronounced struggles away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes entered the contest just 4-9 in games played away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
In its last two road games before the Assembly Hall trip, Iowa had connected on just 6-of-52 3-point tries. That’s 11.5%. Forget about all of that “can’t shoot outside of Carver” noise, though.
The Hawkeyes knocked down 13-of-23 3-pointers and Iowa (19-11, 11-8 Big Ten) went into Assembly Hall and thrashed No. 13 Indiana, 90-68. It was one of Iowa’s best performances of the entire season. In the process, the Hawkeyes completed the season sweep of Indiana (20-10, 11-8 Big Ten).
Kris Murray led the way with 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-8 from downtown. The Cedar Rapids product also added seven rebounds, dished out three assists and blocked a pair of shots.
Tony Perkins was fabulous once again as well. He double-doubled with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting with 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Things went so well last night that Payton Sandfort blew a kiss to the Indiana crowd after burying a late 3-pointer, was T’d up and it just didn’t even matter. In fact, it was awesome.
Crazy enough, the win also opens a potential pathway for the Hawkeyes to climb as high as the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Before Nebraska on Sunday at 1 p.m. inside Carver, here’s how social media reacted to a monster win over Indiana.