By Adam Hensley
Super Bowl Sunday? More like Hawkeye-Husker Sunday.
Iowa and Nebraska will square off for their second go-around of the season, this time playing in Carver-Hawkeye at 1:06 p.m..
The Hawkeyes are coming of their first road win of the season, an 83-63 rout of Rutgers in New Jersey.
Head coach Fran McCaffery said his team’s victory against the Scarlet Knights was the most complete, cohesive performance of the season.
“I thought we’d be ready,” he said. “We played well in the last game [Ohio State], and we hadn’t been good on the road.”
Something was bound to give.
Freshman Jordan Bohannon led the charge for the Hawkeyes, starting the game hot from long range. He finished with a team-high 17 points; 5 of his 7 3-pointers found the bottom of the net.
Iowa’s 3-point barrage kept the deficit unmanageable for Rutgers, which McCaffery praised for its resilience and competitiveness in one of the nation’s best basketball conferences.
“You get a lead, [Rutgers] is not going away,” he said.
The Hawkeyes connected on 11 3-pointers, shooting 61.1 percent for the game. Some of Iowa’s best ball movement of the season (24 assists on 30 field goals) led to wide-open shots.
One of the questions leading into the Nebraska matchup is whether senior Peter Jok will play.
He has missed Iowa’s last two games with a back injury that has bothered him for most of conference play.
“Next man up,” McCaffery said, praising his team’s character and confidence.
When Iowa traveled to Nebraska, however, the Hawkeyes needed Jok to stay close.
Jok scored 34 points before fouling out late in the game. Tyler Cook, Cordell Pemsl, and Isaiah Moss also reached double figures in scoring.
Points weren’t hard to come by. The Huskers toppled the Hawkeyes, 93-90, in a double-overtime thriller.
Iowa’s defense wasn’t as successful as its offense, though.
Nebraska’s Glynn Watson Jr. and Tai Webster scored 34 and 23 points. The pair combined for 8 3-pointers.
At this point in the season, there’s a cluster of six teams with four and five Big Ten wins in the middle of the conference standings. Iowa is one of them, along with Nebraska. This border-rivalry means more than just bragging rights. A win on Feb. 5 stretches the gap between the current four-win teams and the Hawkeyes, who currently have five conference wins.
Iowa and Indiana are tied for the No. 6 spot in the Big Ten, each compiling a 5-5 record so far in the Big Ten.
This team, which many thought wouldn’t make much noise at all this season because of its “inexperience,” has a very realistic shot at snagging the fourth or fifth spot in the conference.
But that means taking things one game at a time.
Considering all the ups and downs of the season, many are surprised about where Iowa, the only team with 10 or more losses in the top eight of the conference, sits.
According to the university’s ticket offices, tickets for the game start from $33 for adults and $20 for youth (18 and younger). Student tickets are $20.
After Nebraska, Iowa will travel to Minnesota for a game on Feb. 8 at 8 p.m.