Indiana completed the season-sweep of Iowa on Sunday with a 67-65 win which included a game-winner from Armaan Franklin with 1.6 seconds left.
The Hoosiers needed a big win to continue to remain in the NCAA Tournament talk and Sunday provided exactly that.
It wasn't a pretty game, but it was a dogfight made up of many plays down the stretch that could've gone either way. Fortunately, IU made enough plays - what it has been lacking at times this year - to come out on top.
Here are the main takeaways from IU's win over No. 8 Iowa.
Freshmen lift IU to win: The four freshmen for Indiana have been a pleasant surprise of late and been 'saving' the Hoosiers, says head coach Archie Miller. It was no different on Sunday when all three big runs for IU came at the hands of the freshmen. All four played double-digit minutes and logged significant stats that altered the game, combining for 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists. That group is starting to come into its own at the right time for Indiana.
Time for lineup change?: Indiana continues to get off to slow starts in both the beginning of the game and after halftime. It happened again on Sunday in large part to the upperclassmen. The freshmen came in and provided that spark that Indiana needed multiple times. The Hoosiers can't continue to go down by double-figures that often and expect to come back every time. Better starts are extremely important moving forward, and that means a lineup change to provide some energy boost could be necessary.
Veteran guards: Indiana's starting backcourt has been an issue all season and for most of their careers but on Sunday, it was even worse. At one point, the starting backcourt was 1-of-19 combined from the field. That can't happen. At another point, Rob Phinisee had gone three halves without registering a point, rebound or assist. Al Durham and Phinisee made some plays late, as did Armaan Franklin, to ultimately help lift IU to the win, but it can't takeaway the poor performances that continue to pile up.
Race Thompson becoming offensive factor: It was the third straight game in double-figures for Thompson and five in the last six games. His presence in the scoring column is a huge boost for Indiana, who now has two solid low post scorers. Thompson, again, showed that he is the go-to guy when IU needs a spark and more often than not provides that for the Hoosiers. He is averaging 11.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in that span.
Turnovers go in IU's favor: The Hoosiers are usually the team that loses the turnover battle and thus, the game. But, their 11-9 advantage in turnovers helped in outscoring Iowa 17-5 off of turnovers. Those loose balls that IU got its hands on helped spark some sort of transition game and secondary break which helped offensive runs throughout the entire game.
Hoosiers need to keep momentum: Everyone knows what the next step is; win the next game to keep some momentum. IU is 2-9 in games following a T25 win in Archie Miller's era and now Indiana's matchup with Northwestern on Wednesday is even more important. Indiana has to win that outing to build on Sunday's win and spark a late season run that could lead them into the NCAA Tournament.
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