IOWA CITY -- Iowa called timeout with 1:54 left in the first half down 31-27. The Hawkeyes were in the midst of the most frustrating 32 minutes of their season. In the final 14 minutes of the Ohio State game, the Hawkeyes surrendered a 12-point lead and lost in overtime. The Buckeyes scored 42 points in those 14 minutes.

In the first 18 minutes against Nebraska, it was Iowa's offense that was out of sync. The Hawks weren't getting many good shots and were missing the good looks that they did get.

Then, in the blink of an eye, all that frustration ended. The Hawkeyes closed the half on a furious 9-0 run that got the crowd back into the game and exorcised their offensive demons. Iowa controlled the game from there, leading by double digits for most of the second half and closing out a comfortable 92-73 victory.

Caitlin Clark had 38 points for the game, but scored 31 of those points in the final 20 minutes and five seconds. Kate Martin did well as Iowa's second scoring option, finishing with 16 points.

In the waning seconds of the first half, Clark wasn't having a typical Caitlin Clark game. She was 2-of-9 from the floor and had just 7 points. Then Clark got an opportunity to close the half with a three. She hit the shot, sending Iowa to halftime with a 5-point lead. The made three proved to be a sign of things to come.

"Once you make a couple, the basket just looks pretty big," Clark said after the game. Clark scored eight quick points in the first three minutes of the third quarter, and she was off to the races from there.

Clark shot 9-of-12 from the field in the second half, including 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range. "I got a lot easier shots for myself in the second half, whether it was coming off of screens, [or] whether it was in transition."

Her toughest make came early in the fourth quarter. Iowa had a 12-point lead, but Nebraska was still doing enough to hang around. In the waning seconds of a broken possession, Clark collected the ball far from the basket with little time on the shot clock. In what time Clark had left, she found just enough space to get up a desperation heave:

"Those are the most fun shots to take," Clark said of her late three. "It's like a free-for-all. You can do whatever you want. You gotta get it up."

"It's unbelievable," Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said about the shot.

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Everyone who has watched an Iowa game knows of Clark's frequent disagreements with officiating. What most don't know is that Clark actually gets along well with most of the officials outside of game moments.

"I have a great relationship with a lot of the officials," Clark said. "They love me. We love talking. I'm feisty. I'm competitive. They know that. To be honest when I get T'd up, I go up to them and say 'I deserve that, I'm sorry.'"

Sydney Affolter has quietly had a very good season. The junior is averaging 7.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.9 apg, and 1.3 spg in 21.2 minutes per game. More impressive are her shooting numbers. Three-point shooting has long been a weakness for Affolter, but she came into the game shooting a solid 33.3% from deep. On 2-point attempts, she’s been shooting an elite 65.0%.

Affolter also has a knack for making big plays when Iowa needs them, be it an offensive rebound, a tie-up, or a tough stand defensively.

Today, Affolter helped change the game with her offense. In the final three minutes of the first half, Affolter scored seven points. The first five points helped keep Iowa in the game as the rest of the offense was struggling. The final layup on an offensive rebound helped Iowa keep its strong run going to end the half.

"Syd always gives us such great energy off the bench," Coach Bluder said. "I'm really happy with the way [she's] playing."

Here are the teams with a .500 or better record in Big Ten play now that Iowa is halfway through its conference season:

8-1 Iowa
7-1 Indiana
7-1 Ohio State
5-3 Penn State
5-4 Michigan
5-4 Michigan State
5-4 Nebraska
4-4 Maryland
4-4 Minnesota

Over the the last five years, the eventual conference champion has finished with a record of: 16-2, 14-4, 17-1, 16-2, and 15-3.

With that history in mind, all but the top three teams are already extreme long shots to win the regular season conference title. Penn State would have to run the table to stand much of a chance at doing so. Any of the teams with four losses would need to run the table and get significant help.

Of the top three teams, Indiana has by far the easiest schedule remaining. The Hoosiers only have five matchups left with the top nine teams in conference: road games at Maryland and Ohio State, and home games against Michigan State, Iowa, and Maryland.

Iowa has seven remaining matchups with the top nine teams: a road game at Maryland, a home game against Penn State, a road game at Nebraska, a home game against Michigan, road games at Indiana and Minnesota, and finally a home game against Ohio State.

Ohio State has eight games remaining against the top nine teams in the league: at home against Indiana, road games at Minnesota and Michigan State, home to Nebraska, a road game at Penn State, home games against Maryland and Michigan, and a final road game at Iowa.

While Indiana has the fewest big games remaining, the Hoosiers also got blown out by Iowa and haven't faced Ohio State yet. Their only matchup with the Buckeyes is on the road.

Ohio State has the big win against Iowa, but the Buckeyes are also the only Top-3 team with a loss to a team outside of that Top-3 (at Michigan). The Buckeyes have also looked been inconsistent at times during the season. Earlier this week, they trailed most of the game against Illinois, before using a big fourth quarter rally to earn a comeback victory. Ohio State also has a difficult game at Iowa to wrap up the regular season.

The front half of Iowa's schedule included four games against teams near the bottom of the conference. The Hawks will only have two such games in their final nine games, and one of them is coming up on Wednesday. No game is easy in the Big Ten, but games against teams at the bottom of the conference are generally less taxing. Iowa won't have the luxury of facing many "bad" teams in its closing stretch this season.

NEXT: Iowa plays at Northwestern (7-12 overall, 2-6 Big Ten) on Wednesday (7 PM CT, Peacock).