So how would Iowa respond to Sunday's frustrating road loss to Illinois? Uh... well. Very, very, very well. There was no hangover from that defeat. Iowa produced not just one of their finest offensive performances of the season, they produced one of the finest offensive performance in the history of the Big Ten Tournament. Just peep the records that fell in this game.
Among the B1G tournament records in jeopardy today:
— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) March 10, 2022
3-pointers (14): Iowa already has 16 (new record)
Points (97): Iowa already has 91
Field goals (37): Iowa already has 35
Every last one of those records? Gone. By the end of the game, Iowa tacked on the record for biggest margin of victory in a Big Ten Tournament game, as well.
.
— Iowa Mens Basketball (@IowaHoops) March 10, 2022
The #Hawkeyes broke 4 BTT records today
FGs:
3pt FGs:
Points:
Margin of Victory: #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/ES1VWlKk9H
Their performance was not just "best of the best" in terms of Big Ten Tournament history, though, it was unparalleled in terms of any major conference tournament game in the 21st century:
This doesn't figure to surprise you:@IowaHoops is the only power conference team in the last 20 seasons to have 100+ points & 18+ 3s in a conference tourney game.#B1Gstats pic.twitter.com/F8bKLY3cfq
— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) March 10, 2022
This was as comprehensive a #BEATEMDOWN as you can find. Iowa brought flamethrowers to a gunfight and turned Northwestern into a charcoal briquette. And they did it early -- this game was basically in chips and salsa territory by the final media timeout of the first half (Iowa led 50-26 at that point). The closest this game ever got for Northwestern was 2-0 Iowa after Filip Rebraca scored the opening points of the game. The Hawkeyes opened the game on a 15-4 run and never really slowed down from there, at least in the first half. They led 34-17 halfway through the first half, had a 20-point lead with six minutes to go in the half (44-24) and went on a 14-5 run after the final media timeout (when they already had 50 points) to enter halftime with a 64-31 lead.
Keegan Murray with 18 first half points (5 mins left)
— Heavens! (@HeavensFX) March 10, 2022
Is that good? pic.twitter.com/UG3WlAVupX
In the first twenty minutes, Iowa shot 68% from the floor, 69% from 3-point range (nice), and scored a ridiculous 1.8 points per possession. That first half was one of the best halves of offensive basketball I've ever seen in my entire life. Iowa was making everything -- and if they did miss a shot, they often managed to get the offensive rebound and score second-chance points.
Jordan Bohannon from deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep pic.twitter.com/1DSpoNeAsk
— Heavens! (@HeavensFX) March 10, 2022
The team losing at halftime had ended up winning the first three games in this year's Big Ten Tournament, but Iowa made sure that stat didn't become four-for-four. Northwestern had a brief burst out of halftime, including an 8-0 run that trimmed Iowa's lead to... 26 points. Iowa responded with their own 8-0 run (courtesy of a layup by Keegan Murray and triples from Tony Perkins and Jordan Bohannon) to dash any hopes of a potentially historic comeback. Iowa was not going to let that happen; they were going to keep shooting the lights out and running Northwestern off the floor and cramming them into a trash can. Iowa opened up a 40-point lead a few minutes later and the lead stayed north of 30 for most of the second half. The only question at that point was when (not if) Iowa would break the Big Ten Tournament single-game scoring records. They shattered them all with ease.
This was an absolutely all-flames performance from pretty much everyone in an Iowa uniform. In fact, all 14 Iowa players played today and all 14 guys made at least one basket. 10 different Iowa players made a 3-pointer in this game. Overall, Iowa made 19 (!) triples in this game, led by Jordan Bohannon's 5/8 performance from deep. Payton Sandfort was also sharp (3/5), and Keegan Murray went 3/3 from long range. Even Tony Perkins went 2/2 from behind the arc today and his long-range shooting has been off for much of the season.
But my favorite shooting-related stat for the game is this one:
It's official.
— David Eickholt (@DavidEickholt) March 10, 2022
Iowa had more threes (19) than Northwestern had rebounds (18).
Iowa made more three-pointers (19) than Northwestern had total rebounds (18)... for the entire game. Iowa out-rebounded Northwestern by a preposterous margin of 45-18, including 16-9 on the offensive glass. Granted, Northwesten had fewer opportunities for defensive rebounds with Iowa's offense, y'know, not missing shots, but still: that is an absurd rebounding disparity. It's stunning to think back to the way this team was playing back in December, when they were getting absolutely eaten alive on the glass. The commitment this team has made to be a better rebounding team is hugely impressive and today was the apex of that effort.
This was definitely a team-wide display of excellence and brilliance, but there were some standout individual performers as well. Keegan Murray was his typical brilliant self, scoring 26 points on 11/16 shooting (3/3 3FG) and grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 2 assists -- and he did it all in a highly efficient 21 minutes of work. Iowa was able to rest him for the final 14 minutes of the game. Jordan Bohannon bounced back from a difficult game against Illinois with a sharp performance here: 17 points on 6/9 shooting (5/8 3FG), 3 assists, and a steal. Payton Sandfort provided some sharpshooting pop off the bench, with 13 points on 5/9 shooting (3/5 3FG). Filip Rebraca had maybe his best game in an Iowa uniform: 10 points (5/5 shooting), 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 4 assists, including a perfect lob to Keegan for an alley-oop.
Speaking of assists, Tony Perkins followed up his points-rebounds double-double against Illinois with a career-high six assists (to go with six points and four rebounds) today. Perkins has really leveled up for Iowa over the last month or so and the confidence he's playing with has been really been impressive to see. He had to play a lot in the first half today with Ahron Ulis and Joe Toussaint both getting in early foul trouble, but he kept the offense absolutely humming. Patrick McCaffery was the final Iowa player in double figures today, with 10 points on 3/6 shooting. But, really, this was an all-studs, no-duds day for Iowa basketball: pretty much everything they tried worked today and it was absolutely beautiful to watch.
11 first half 3s?
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 10, 2022
11 first half 3s.
Watch all of them . #B1Gtourney x @IowaHoops pic.twitter.com/uP6mH6HD3K
It's fun when a player is in the zone and just lighting it up. But when an entire team is in the zone? That's transcendent, friends. This game was pure bliss for 40 minutes. Now we get to see what Iowa can do for an encore tomorrow against Rutgers.
NEXT: Iowa plays Rutgers (18-12, 12-8 Big Ten) in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, March 11 at approximately 1 PM CT (BTN). Winner faces the winner of the Illinois-Indiana game tipping off prior to Iowa-Rutgers.
