Northwestern Wildcats at Iowa Hawkeyes

Jordan Bohannon passes up Iowa's free throw record

Bohannon scored 25 points with seven 3s and Iowa held off Northwestern 77-70 in the Hawkeyes' home finale on Sunday night, snapping a six-game losing streak.

Luka Garza had 18 points for the Hawkeyes (13-18, 4-14), who locked down the No. 12 seed for next week's Big Ten tournament with their first victory in nearly a month. They'll face Illinois on Wednesday in New York.

"We know what we are capable of. It was good to go out and show that. Tonight was a good step for us," Garza said.

Bohannon had a chance to break the school record for consecutive free throws of 34 held by Street, who died in a car accident midway through the 1993 season, late in the second half.

"Obviously, that's not my record to have; and, obviously, that record deserves to stay in his name," Bohannon said in an interview with the Big Ten Network. "I've heard a lot (about Street); I've been really close with his family these past couple years and gotten to know them a lot.

"Just listened to his story, honestly; and it's really gotten me emotional these past couple games 'cause I knew what I wanted to do. Obviously, it was a different time than I wanted to do it; but that's something I wanted to do. And like I said, it's been an honor to know his family."

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said he had thought of discussing the scenario with Bohannon but chose not to.

"I left it up to him, and that's what he chose to do. It's awesome," McCaffery said.

McCaffery said he knows Street's record is meaningful to a number of people.

With Iowa leading by only eight points at the time of the miss, McCaffery knew it wasn't the ideal time to intentionally miss a free throw, but he wasn't surprised, or upset, with Bohannon's decision.

This was essentially a meaningless game for the injury-plagued Wildcats (15-16, 6-12), who had already clinched the No. 10 seed for the conference tournament before the game, and they played like it in the first half.

Iowa, a team that trailed by at least 18 points in every Big Ten road game this season, jumped ahead by 18 when Bohannon's 3 from the edge of the midcourt logo made it 30-12.

Bohannon continued his torrid shooting with another 3 from well beyond the arc to extend Iowa's lead to 43-21.

"He needs him to play like that for us to be the team we can be," McCaffery said of Bohannon. "He needs to be aggressive like that."

Scottie Lindsey tried to keep the Wildcats in striking distance with nine 3s, pulling them within eight, 73-65, on back-to-back shots from beyond the arc. But a Nicholas Baer steal after the missed free throw by Bohannon carried Iowa out of danger.

Lindsey scored a career-high 32 points and was 9-of-11 on 3s to lead the Wildcats, who've lost six straight.

Northwestern's Vic Law, who is averaging 12 points a game, missed his second consecutive contest with an injured toe. Wildcats coach Chris Collins said after the game that Law hasn't been cleared medically to return and that his status for the conference tournament is uncertain.

"For us, we're just a MASH unit right now," Collins said. "I was proud of my guys for continuing to fight ... we just dug ourselves too deep of a hole."

HE SAID IT

"A family member of ours was taken from us. We remember that," McCaffery said of Bohannon's gesture.

THE BIG PICTURE

Northwestern will face seventh-seeded Penn State on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The Wildcats lost to the Nittany Lions on the road 78-63 on Jan. 5 but beat Penn State 70-61 at home two weeks later.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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