The women’s season has shown very consistent play throughout the year, but with the men you never know if Hoosier-Jeckyl or Hoosier-Hyde will show up on the court. At 26-1, the #2 women faced another ranked opponent with the #6 Hawkeyes. The game reflected the competitive nature of both squads with Iowa edging ahead at the end of each quarter and leading 40-39 at the half. Applying the “Rule of 60,” the third quarter ended ominously at 61-58 in favor of the Hawks and their fierce leader, Caitlin Clark. She then proceeded to hit a dramatic buzzer-beater to win the game 86-85. With this wake-up call to the men, who were in danger of a let-down after Purdue, I felt strongly that they would respond on the home court by coming out strong. How wrong this fan was!

Following the lead of the women Hawkeyes, the men jumped out to early leads of 8-0, 16-5, and 21-12 on three Kris Murray treys. By halftime it was nearly the reverse situation from the first game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with the Hawks comfortably ahead 47-36 in Bloomington. Back in early January the Hoosiers held a 50-40 lead but faded down the stretch. This time, Iowa continued to stretch the lead for a 90-68 rout.

Kris Murray finished with 26-points and Tony Perkins added 23, plus 10-rebounds, and 8-assists, just short of a triple-double. The hot Hawkeyes crossed 60 at 15:44 with a dominant lead of 61-40. They would ultimately make 13-threes thanks to Payton Sandfort’s five. Indiana only hit two from beyond the arc in eleven attempts. Turnovers were not the issue or even free throw shooting, but rebounding again reared its ugly head, as I.U. missed their opportunity to clinch a double bye in the upcoming conference tournament. The high-flying Hawkeyes were coming off an unbelievable 13-point comeback in the final 94 seconds against Michigan State.

Trayce Jackson-Davis led the hapless Hoosiers with 26-points and 13-rebounds, following up nicely after his worst game of the season against Purdue. However, the hero of the Boiler bash, Jalen Hood-Schifino was disappointedly mediocre with 8-points, 5-rebounds, and 2-assists. TJD will play his last home game on Sunday against Michigan, but JHS may not be such hot property after these last few days of discussions and interviews about top draft expectations. He may need more NCAA time to prove consistency with his game. This fan is counting on a better performance just in case this freshman sensation is truly experiencing his Senior Day early.