The last time the Iowa men’s basketball team played Northwestern at Carver-Hawkeye Arena prior to Tuesday’s contest, point guard Jordan Bohannon hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.

The Hawkeyes didn’t need such late-game heroics this time around. Bohannon’s shooting in the second half assured that.

In the 180th meeting between the two programs, but the first in which both teams were ranked, No. 10 Iowa defeated No. 19 Northwestern, 87-72. Bohannon equaled a season high with 24 points, 19 of which came in the second half.

“He was spectacular tonight,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “I think you could kind of see it coming. He had a couple games that wouldn’t be up to his standards. He’s as fierce a competitor as I’ve ever been around. He challenged himself to do what he does and it was fun to watch.”

After hitting seven three-pointers in Iowa’s win over North Carolina on Dec. 8, Bohannon shot below 20 percent from beyond the arc over the next six games. The stretch was an uncharacteristic one for the Iowa senior. Bohannon is the program’s all-time leader in 3’s.

In Iowa’s previous game against Minnesota, Bohannon shot 1-of-7 from deep and the Hawkeyes lost in Minneapolis. McCaffery pulled Bohannon into his office in the days leading up to Tuesday’s game and told him to remain confident and to take his shots.

“[McCaffery] was preaching what he always has since I’ve been here,” Bohannon said. “He has the utmost confidence in me and that’s why he recruited me, because of how I play on the court, my swag, and how much different we are on the court when I’m like that.”

While the snowy Iowa City surroundings made for a cold atmosphere outside of Carver on Tuesday, Bohannon’s shooting was hot in the final 20 minutes of game time.

Bohannon drained six three-pointers in the second half against Northwestern, each one seemingly deeper than the one before it. The Marion, Iowa, native added five rebounds and five assists to go along with his 24 points on the night.

“A guy like Jordan, he’s been working before practice and after practice every day,” Iowa guard C.J. Fredrick said. “We have tremendous confidence in him. We want him shooting the ball. And obviously you saw why tonight.”

Aside from the box score, Bohannon brought a swagger to the floor that had been absent for portions of the season. He had his rhythm back. He looked like his old self.

Including the deep 3’s he hit in transition.

“I’ve hit my fair share of transition 3’s,” Bohannon said. “I feel like I’ve almost patented that move. Whenever I can get to the shots that I’ve been hitting throughout my career is when my confidence gets going… I always thought my shot was going to come at some point this season.”

Northwestern sprinted out to an 8-2 lead to start the game, with all eight points scored by forward Pete Nance, who ended the game with 21 points. The Hawkeyes traded the lead with the Wildcats for most of the half, but took a nine-point advantage into the break.

Fredrick scored 17 points in the first half on only seven shots, and was good for 19 points for the game.

The Wildcats hit three 3’s in the first two minutes of the second half to bring the game to within four points. But, behind hot shooting from Bohannon and solid defense on the perimeter, the Hawkeyes soon extended their lead back to double digits and led by as many as 18 points.

Bohannon played the entire second half after reserve point guard Joe Toussaint sprained his ankle in the first half.

McCaffery said postgame that he doesn’t expect the injury to keep Toussaint out for an extended period of time, Toussaint wanted to go back into the game, but McCaffery didn’t want to risk the sophomore playing at less than 100 percent. Toussaint will be evaluated in the coming days to determine if he can play Saturday against Rutgers.

Iowa center Luka Garza scored 18 points on Tuesday, snapping his 18-game streak of scoring 20 or more points against Big Ten opponents. Between Fredrick’s hot shooting in the first half, and Bohannon’s in the second, Garza didn’t need to dominate the game.

With Tuesday’s win, the Hawkeyes improve to 8-2 on the season and 2-1 in Big Ten play, and the victory was their eight straight at home against a ranked opponent, the longest such streak in program history.