Tonight was finally the night.
The night the Hoosiers snapped their 11-game losing streak. The night the team got its first Big Ten victory. The night IU snagged its first win of 2009.
The Hoosiers led by as many as 20 points in the second half, before the Hawkeyes made what seemed like an inevitable run. With 36 seconds left, Iowa only trailed by three, 63-60, but the Hoosiers regained their composure and held the Hawkeyes scoreless the rest of the way.
After Matt Roth's hot shooting night last week, it was junior guard Devan Dumes' turn to put the Hoosiers on his back. The Indianapolis native was nearly perfect from the floor Wednesday, finishing with 27 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 from behind the arc. Freshman forward Nick Williams added 14 points and nine rebounds.
IU played most of the way without freshman forward Tom Pritchard - who scored only two points and played a total of 14 minutes before fouling out. The Hoosiers turned the ball over only 11 times against the Hawkeyes and played fairly consistently over the 40-minute game, scoring 33 points before halftime and 35 in the second half.
The win also prevents the Hoosiers from setting a school record they were looking to avoid: longest losing streak. And as Crean has pointed out several times recently, it gives his team the long-awaited taste of victory they have been deprived of since Dec. 10.
For more coverage of tonight's game, check back with the Basketblog and idsnews.com. For a blow-by-blow recap of the live blog, follow the jump.
