Jordan Bohannon ties career-high with eight 3-pointers in No. 5 Iowa’s blowout victory over Nebraska
The Hawkeyes improve to 19-7 with only one game remaining in the regular season.
March 4, 2021
Jordan Bohannon is open as soon as he steps into the gym, former Hawkeye and current Big Ten Network analyst Jess Settles said on Thursday night’s broadcast. Nebraska could have used that scouting report.
The senior point guard added eight 3-pointers to his program-record total in the No. 5 Iowa men’s basketball team’s (19-7 overall, 13-6 Big Ten) 102-64 rout of Nebraska (7-18, 3-15) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Bohannon, who was honored before the game for becoming the program’s all-time leader in assists, tied a career-high in 3-pointers Thursday, giving him 352 for his career. The Marion, Iowa, native finished with 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting (8-of-12 3-pointers) in 25 minutes of play. Midway through the second half, when Bohannon hit his final 3-pointer of the night before going to the bench to watch the rest of the game, Iowa led by 32 points.
“My teammates have the confidence in me to be one of the best shooters in the country, which I know I am,” Bohannon said postgame. “They were finding me tonight.”
It took Iowa two minutes and 39 seconds to score against Nebraska. And the Huskers may be lucky the game was tied 0-0 for that long. Because once the Hawkeyes started scoring, nobody in a Scarlet uniform could keep up.
Bohannon’s first 3-pointer of the game put Iowa up 9-3 four minutes into the game. By the time Bohannon sank his final shot of the half, the Hawkeyes led by 20.
Iowa closed out the first half on a 16-3 run, while at the same time Nebraska hit only one of its final 10 shots from the field to end the half. In the second half, 10 minutes of which took place with Iowa’s reserves on the floor, Iowa outscored Nebraska 54-38. A dunk by reserve Iowa center Josh Ogundele with only seconds remaining in the game served as the final points scored in an emphatic win for the Hawkeyes.
In last season’s loss to Nebraska, Iowa shot only 4-of-33 from beyond the arc.
This time, as a team, the Hawkeyes shot 51 from the floor and hit 16 3-pointers. Iowa held Nebraska, a team that came into Iowa City on a two-game winning streak, to 34 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers.
Luka Garza added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Hawkeyes, and Joe Wieskamp was good for 11 and seven. Off the bench, Patrick McCaffery scored 19 points in 20 minutes of play. Connor McCaffery and Joe Toussaint commanded the team’s offense, combining for 12 assists.
Iowa will close out the regular season Sunday at home against Wisconsin. The game is scheduled to tip off at 11:37 a.m. and will air on FOX.
Fredrick goes down midway through first half
The only real drama in Thursday’s game came at the 5:35 mark of the first half, when starting guard CJ Fredrick tumbled down onto the court and grabbed his right ankle. Fredrick, who has missed four full games this season, has been hampered by a lower leg injury for the last month.
Fredrick limped off the court and into the locker room immediately, but jogged back to Iowa’s bench only minutes later.
Freshman guard Tony Perkins replaced Fredrick in Iowa’s lineup at the end of the first half, and freshman forward Keegan Murray started the second half in Fredrick’s place. The team listed Fredrick as questionable to return to the game at halftime, but because of Iowa’s commanding lead, he did not return to the game.
McCaffery said postgame that Fredrick’s ankle is sore and, if the game had been closer, he wasn’t sure if Fredrick would have been healthy enough to return to the game. Fredrik’s status for Sunday’s game is uncertain.
Hawkeyes win fast-break battle against Huskers
Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg could be seen lightly kicking his chair in the first half as Patrick McCaffery breezed by the Huskers in transition. Hoiberg yelled at his team that it couldn’t give up easy buckets in transition.
Yet, the Huskers did all night.
Iowa scored 19 fast-break points against Nebraska, including multiple transition 3-pointers from Bohannon. The Huskers did not register a single point in transition Thursday.
“I always try to push it in transition,” Bohannon said. “If I have a shot, I’m going to take it. What makes our break so special is my ability to change sides of the floor and look for my shot. It opens up the floor for all our other shooters.”
“I thought our ball pressure and our attention to detail were great,” McCaffery said. “We got turnovers, we got ball deflections, and that led to opportunities in transition.”
Thursday’s loss is the worst margin of defeat in Hoiberg’s college coaching career. The win is the largest Iowa has ever had against Nebraska and the team’s 102 points are its most ever in series history.
