IOWA CITY -- Iowa overcame a terrible second half, defeating Northwestern on a last-second, Josh Dix three with 0.8 seconds left, to take the win 80-79. Reminiscent of Jordan Bohannon's triple to beat the Wildcats in 2019, Iowa stole its first win of conference play in the Big Ten.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
Josh Dix Wins It
Fora while, the game didn't seem like it would be close. Iowa led by 15 at one point in the second half. With 8:12 to go, the Hawkeyes relinquished that lead to the Wildcats and didn't get it back until the clock read all zeros.
Popping up from the paint with 0.8 seconds on the clock, Dix freed himself, caught an inbound pass from Brock Harding, and buried a 35-footer to help Iowa turn a loss into an 80-79 win.
"We ran a tip play for Owen (Freeman), but I told Brock that if it's not open, I'd try to get open at the top to get a shot off," Dix said following the game. "He hit me, so I just tried to make it."
Dix, who led all scorers with 22 points, had about as good an idea as the fans and media watching the game about whether the shot was going in.
"It felt good, I didn't know if it was short, though," Dix smiled. "It felt like it might have been short, but it felt straight on. So, yeah, I didn't know."
Fran McCaffery was a little more confident.
"From where I stood it looked good when it left his hand," McCaffery said. "He made it. I'm not surprised. He's tremendous."
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said he knew the last-second shot design by McCaffery was coming, and the Wildcats still couldn't stop it.
"We told our guys that was the play they were going to run," Collins said. "We talked about staying connected to those shooters, because with 0.8 all they can do is catch-and-shoot. Josh did a great job of popping open, getting that thing off quickly and making a big shot."
Deja Vu, Circa 2019
Collins recognized the play coming because of an eerily similar shot that former Iowa point guard Jordan Bohannon made over five years ago to sink Northwestern in the final seconds.
"They ran a very similar play against us five or six years ago," Collins said. "Bohannon made the same shot."
McCaffery confirmed it was the same play, recognizing that it's a difficult play to defend.
"Are you going to switch everything? You don't want to foul, because you're up two. You want to make us take a contested, tough shot," McCaffery said. "Any time you run a play, there's multiple options. They took away two or three of them."
Dix marveled at the similarities.
"That's pretty crazy," he laughed. "I didn't know."
Payton Sandfort knew it was the same play, and virtually the same shot to take the win.
"That's tough," he laughed. "They've got a really good team. ... It's a tough way to go out, they battled. That's a Big Ten game. It feels good to get the first one -- it's the hardest one to get."
A Big Ten Win in December
Sandfort's not wrong. He and the Hawkeyes haven't won a Big Ten game in December since he's been in Iowa City.
To be exact, the last time Iowa won a game in December against a Big Ten opponent was in 2020 -- a 87-72 victory over Northwestern at home. For the first time in nearly four years, the Hawkeyes have a conference victory in the first month of conference play.
"[The first Big Ten win] feels like it's always been the hardest one to get in my career," reiterated Sandfort, who contributed 20 points and seven rebounds. "It feels like once we get that first one, we can kind of get on a roll. It feels really good. I think there are a lot of things we can improve on, but it's a lot easier to learn from that with a win."
Dix, who also experienced his first December conference victory, agreed that the win is foundational for the Hawkeyes moving forward.
"It means a lot for our confidence," Dix said. "In the middle of the season we won't be trying to dig ourselves out of a hole. We'll just keep the success going and keep working."
UP NEXT: Iowa travels to Ann Arbor for their second Big Ten matchup of the month, facing off with Michigan (6-1) at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday on FS1.
