Saturday men’s basketball sensations Iowa and Indiana start over Tuesday night

Iowa and Indiana were the toast of college basketball Saturday. Only one will receive after they meet Tuesday night.

The Hawkeyes and the No. 15 Hoosiers clash at 6 p.m. (CT) at Indiana’s Assembly Hall.

The Hawkeyes set the nation on its ear in Iowa City Saturday afternoon when tjhey made five 3-pointers in the final 39 seconds of regulation to force overtime and went on to defeat Michigan State, 112-106. The Hawkeyes trailed by 11 points entering the final minute of the second half.

That evening, Indiana completed a two-game season sweep of Big Ten leader Purdue with a 79-71 win on the road. It was the Hoosiers’ first triumph at Mackey Arena since 2013.

Both must reboot for Tuesday’s game as the teams jockey for position in the conference standings and for seeding in next week’s league tournament. The Hoosiers are 11-7 and tied for second place with Maryland, Michigan and Northwestern. Iowa is 10-8, along with Illinois and Rutgers.

The top four teams at season’s end go directly to next Friday’s quarterfinals in Chicago. The others will have to advance from Thursday’s games to the quarters.

A win at Indiana would give the Hawkeyes significant help with their NCAA tournament seeding. Getting it, however, will require some doing.

The 15th-ranked Hoosiers are a formidable bunch. They may have played their best ball of the season Saturday in the home of their state rival.

“I thought they played in a very difficult environment,” said Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery Monday. “The game that they wanted to play, they kind of played at their pace. There was no panic. They played like a veteran, mature team, I thought. Anything short of that in that building, you have no chance.”

Indiana freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino had a career-high 35 points for Indiana. Hoosiers 6-foot-9 forward Trayce Jackson-Davis had an unusually low 10 points, but had seven assists.

In Big Ten games, he is second in the conference in scoring (21.3 points per game) and rebounding (12.5), first in blocked shots (3.0), and sixth in assists (4.6).

Jackson-Davis is the first Indiana player to have both 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds, and is nine rebounds from becoming the Hoosiers’ all-time leader.

“He was a dominant player the minute he got here,” McCaffery said, saying the senior has always been a good scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker, but is now a good passer.

“He’s tried to complete the picture and show a complete skill-set,” the coach said.

Iowa is 2-7 on the road in Big Ten play. A win Tuesday would give the Hawkeyes a good chance to get a double-bye in the league tournament since it holds tiebreakers over Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan and Rutgers. A loss would make the double-bye extremely unlikely to attain.

The Hawkeyes were national darlings Saturday for becoming the fourth team in NCAA history to rally from an 11-point deficit in the final minute to win. Should they prevail at Indiana, though, it might be their top achievement of the season to date.

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