Iowa came up just short in an opportunity to try to ignite the stretch run of its regular season.
Though it was a thrilling finish, Iowa (14-12, 5-10 Big Ten) wound up on the wrong end of an 80-78 loss versus Oregon (19-8, 8-8 Big Ten) from inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Hawkeyes had one final chance to tie or take the lead, but the opportunity was swatted aside by senior Oregon center Nate Bittle. As the Hawkeyes fall to 11-5 inside Carver, here’s some takeaways from the loss at the hands of the Ducks.
Iowa basketball had chances to win this game late
Despite trailing by 10 in the final minute of the first half, the Hawkeyes didn’t wilt in this one. Instead, Iowa quickly tightened things up in the second half and jumped in front 54-53 on a 3-pointer from senior forward Payton Sandfort with 13:26 left to play.
Oregon would respond and proceeded to build another seven-point lead at 67-60 with 8:59 remaining, but Iowa didn’t blink and had another counterpunch of its own. The Hawkeyes ran off a 7-0 spurt to knot things back up at 67 apiece and then pieced together an additional 8-3 scoring run to leapfrog back in front for the final time, 75-74, with 2:59 left in regulation after the Ducks had grabbed a 71-67 advantage.
From there, things got a little wacky late. Oregon used a pair of free throws from senior forward Brandon Angel to grab a three-point 78-75 lead. Iowa senior forward Even Brauns made one of two foul shots on the Hawkeyes’ ensuing possession.
With Oregon now leading 78-76, the Ducks had the basketball and a chance to regain a two-possession lead. It looked like Oregon had found it in the most deflating of ways for Iowa, too.
Sophomore Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad, who hadn’t made a field goal all night long, banked in a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired. But, after a lengthy, controversial review, Shelstad’s three-point bucket was waved off. The officials ruled that the basketball hadn’t left his fingertips as the shot clock expired.
Given a chance to tie or take the lead, Sandfort missed a point-blank layup. Then, after a pair of made free throws from Oregon’s Shelstad and a layup from Iowa’s Brauns, Oregon led 80-78 with just 13.9 seconds left to play.
Inexplicably, Shelstad bobbled the inbounds pass and his momentum carried him to the out of bounds line. The turnover game Iowa a final chance to tie or take the lead.
Iowa junior guard Josh Dix drove in and missed a layup for the tie. Neither team could corral the loose rebound, though. After another review, the basketball was ruled to have been last touched by Oregon senior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy and it stayed with Iowa.
With just 4.8 seconds left, the inbounds pass came into Brauns, who handed off to Dix. Dix then hoisted a step-back 3-point jumper, but the attempt was blocked by Bittle and Brauns’ putback attempt came up just short at the buzzer.
Payton Sandfort, Josh Dix pace Iowa
Sandfort and Dix kept Iowa afloat and gave the Hawkeyes a puncher’s chance to knock off Oregon. Sandfort finished with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-7 from distance. Sandfort also added five rebounds and five assists.
Meanwhile, Dix chipped in with 19 points on an 8-for-15 shooting night with a pair of made 3-pointers.
Even Brauns plays his best game as a Hawkeye
Given the evening he put together, it would’ve been the perfect ending for Brauns’ putback attempt to find its way home at the buzzer. Instead, that wasn’t the final script on Wednesday night.
Still, Brauns played his finest game in the black and gold. Brauns ended his evening a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe with 15 points. The Iowa City native also added three rebounds, two blocks and one assist.
Drew Thelwell returns, but doesn’t play much
Graduate guard Drew Thelwell missed each of Iowa’s previous two games as he was battling his way back from an ankle injury that he sustained against Wisconsin on Feb. 8.
Thelwell returned against Oregon, but he only played 15 minutes and he was held scoreless as he missed each of his three field goal tries.
Will Iowa keep battling down the stretch?
This was a good indication that Iowa isn’t ready to pack it in for the remainder of the season. With the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten Tournament status still in question, Iowa at least demonstrated that it’s willing to fight against a Quad 2 opponent in Oregon.
Despite frustration continuing to rise for Iowa fans, perhaps this is a sign of the character that this Hawkeye team plans to exhibit the rest of the way win or lose.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Takeaways as Iowa basketball drops thriller vs Oregon
