Iowa basketball: Bohannon’s hot shooting propels Hawks to victory over Nebraska

The Iowa basketball team got their first Big Ten conference win last night against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Here is the recap.

After losing their first three conference basketball games, it was incredibly important that the Iowa basketball team was able to secure a victory at Carver Hawkeye Arena against the #24 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. It wasn’t easy, however.

The Hawks, and Ryan Kriener specifically, got into foul trouble early causing Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery to turn to injured center Luka Garza. Fortunately for McCaffery, Garza was able contribute a very valuable ten minutes despite playing on a bum ankle. Garza was active on both ends of the floor and managed to score 8 points on 3 of 6 shooting in just ten minutes of action.

After Kriener, it was star forward Tyler Cook who picked up his third foul just two minutes into the second half, which prompted McCaffery to send him to the bench. At the time, the Hawks were up 46-44.

On the back of five points and three assists from Jordan Bohannon the Hawks built a nine-point lead in Cook’s absence. Iowa never relinquished the lead despite Nebraska getting to within four points of the Hawks with five minutes remaining in the contest.

The Iowa basketball team would close out the game with a 93-84 win over the Huskers. For context, Nebraska, a strong defensive basketball team, hadn’t allowed more than 84 points all season.

Pacing the Hawks in points was junior Jordan Bohannon who put in 25 points on 5 of 11 shooting (5 of 8 from three) and a perfect 10 for 10 in free throws. Cook, who was dominating the Huskers early and was a large reason for putting a few guys in foul trouble, finished with 16 points despite sitting out a decent chunk of the second half. Guard Isaiah Moss also had a fantastic showing and seemed to be involved on nearly every major play or turnover. He would finish the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds (a single game high for his career).

Ryan Kriener, in his first start with the Iowa basketball team, had 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks while freshman Joe Wieskamp added 10 points and 7 boards in 29 minutes of action.

Defensively, the Iowa basketball team played enthusiastic and engaged defense resulting in some dreadful shooting performances by Nebraska, a huge key coming into this game. Star guard James Palmer was held to 6 of 15 shooting and the Huskers shot a horrendous 17.4% from three-point range despite shooting over 35% entering the contest.

With their first Big Ten win in the bag, the Hawkeyes will look to build a small winning streak when they take on the Northwestern Wildcats Wednesday evening in Evanston, Illinois.