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Indiana rallies, holds off Iowa 84-82

Sports

February 17th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Indiana survived one of its strangest games of the season and kept its winning streak alive with the Big Ten tournament less than two weeks away. Still, the Hoosiers needed a record-setting performance from Robert Johnson to hold off the reeling Hawkeyes.

Johnson scored a career-high 29 points on nine 3s, which tied the school record, and Indiana rallied from an early 13-point deficit and beat Iowa 84-82 for its fourth straight victory.

Devonte Green had 18 points on four 3s for the Hoosiers (16-12, 9-7 Big Ten), who also blew a 13-point lead before Freddie McSwain Jr. hit the game-winning basket on a layup with 46 seconds left.

Tyler Cook was really good for Iowa (12-17, 3-13), scoring 28 points and 10 rebounds. But he missed a put-back at the buzzer that would’ve forced overtime. The Hawkeyes have lost five straight.

The Hawkeyes can score with anyone. It’s their defense that’ll need to be fixed in the offseason. The Hoosiers were wide open on many of those tries beyond the arc, allowing multiple players beyond Johnson to get into a groove from the perimeter, but McCaffery was especially frustrated about his team’s defense on Johnson and Green. Still, Iowa deserves credit for making a game of it until the final buzzer sounded.

Iowa plays at Minnesota on Wednesday.