Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, March 9, 2017

WASHINGTON — Iowa had a lot on the line in its game vs. Indiana on Thursday night. The No. 7 Hawkeyes arrived to the Big Ten tourney sitting squarely on the bubble. The Hawkeyes needed to get at least one win, probably two, to feel good about its NCAA tourney chances.

Alas, Iowa came up short in falling to No. 10 Indiana, 95-73. Those NCAA hopes for the Hawkeyes? Toss them out the window. Indiana isn?t going to dance unless it wins the Big Ten tourney. The odds are long, but this is a good start for what has been a disappointing season in Bloomington. This is a talented team. This is a dangerous team. This is a team with no pressure and nothing to lose. Beware, Big Ten. IU?s next task? Taking on No. 2 Wisconsin on Friday.

Here's the best from Indiana's blowout win vs. Iowa.

Top star: James Blackmon, Indiana. The junior played like an All-American, notching a game-high 23 points. He hit 7-of-9 shots (4-of-5 from 3-point range) with eight rebounds and four assists.

Top stat line: Jordan Bohannon, Iowa. The talented freshman tied a career-high with 24 points, hitting 6-of-11 from downtown, handed out a career-high 10 assists and picked up two steals. How good can he become?

Top stat: 60, Indiana?s shooting percentage from the field (35-of-58) and 3-point range (12-of-20). When you are that hot, you win a lot of games and score a lot of points-95, to be exact-including 52 in the second half.

Top dunk: Indiana jetted out in transition after coming up with a loose ball. That?s when James Blackmon spotted Thomas Bryant, who took a nice pass and executed a thunderous two-handed slam to give the Hoosiers a 50-48 lead with 16:12 left in the game.

It was over when: Fueled by the hot shooting of James Blackmon, IU went on a 12-0 run to take a 67-52 lead with 12:26 left in the game. Blackmon hit his first three 3-pointers of the second half and the run was capped by a Thomas Bryant dunk. Indiana maintained its torrid pace and ended up running away with the game.

Did you see that? Late in the game, Fran McCaffery had seen enough and was whistled for a technical foul. Mount Fran strikes again!

Notable:

  • Iowa arrived at the Big Ten tourney as the hottest team in the league, winners of four in a row and seven of 10 games.
  • Indiana had no momentum coming to Washington, D.C., losers of six of eight.
  • Wisconsin beat Indiana two times this season.