Once again this season, Iowa (15-13) flexed its muscles with its back against the wall, taking down Indiana (15-13), 96-90, in overtime.

The Hawkeyes snapped their three-game losing streak and added a fifth-straight loss on the Hoosiers’ résumé in a crucial late-season conference matchup.
“We knew this was a big game,” Jordan Bohannon said. “We didn’t want to slip beyond that middle point and not get that bye in the Big Ten Tournament.”

Peter Jok had his best game since returning to the lineup following a back-injury-related absence. He scored 35 points — but more importantly, knocked down all but one of his 23 free throws (an Iowa record).

Tyler Cook added 14, and Christian Williams scored a career-high 10 points.

In the initial minutes of play, it looked as though Iowa regressed to its mode of starting slowly. Coach Fran McCaffery saw his team dig a 9-0 hole a little more than two minutes into the game; he played 12 Hawkeyes in the first five minutes, trying to find something, anything, to spark his team.

“We didn’t get back on defense,” Jok said. “On offense we were stagnant. Coach took us out — I think we needed it. I told the guys on the bench that we need to stay positive and get back in.”

Iowa played like a completely different team from there on out, especially in the second half at the free-throw line. Points at the line sealed the deal for the Hawkeyes, who made 39 shots at the stripe.

Cook had a shot to win the game at the end of regulation. Bohannon passed to Cook on the block, who found a good look at the rim, but his shot failed to find the bottom of the net at the buzzer.

“We were just resilient today,” Cook said. “I think it was a great collective effort tonight to try and fight back.”

He redeemed himself, though.

Cook’s slam after grabbing an offensive rebound in overtime, combined with Iowa’s consistency at the free-throw line, put the game out of reach for Indiana.

However, Cook’s late dunk wasn’t the best play of the game.

Nicholas Baer slammed down a thunderous put-back dunk after a Jok miss to fire up the Carver crowd and inject momentum into a stagnant Hawkeye unit.

Unlike Iowa’s loss at home to Illinois on Feb. 18, this game possessed a fluid offensive battle. The Hawkeyes and Hoosiers answered each other shot for shot majority of the contest; large scoring runs and defensive droughts weren’t as common as the previous game.

With fewer than three minutes remaining in the game, Iowa’s Williams ran the break and tossed an alley-oop to Tyler Cook. The next possession, Cook slammed home a dunk over Indiana’s Thomas Bryant, giving Iowa its first lead of the game.

Up by 2, Bohannon turned the ball over, and the Hoosiers took advantage of the fast break, but Jok flew in for a foul – Indiana almost made the lay-up, but it rimmed out.

The Hoosiers sank a pair of free throws with less than 30 seconds to go in the game.

Next up, Iowa will travel to College Park, Maryland, to take on the Terrapins on Saturday at 5 p.m.