Favorite Games, No. 3: Indiana Stuns No. 4 Hawkeyes on the Road at Iowa

Despite foul trouble and a recent string of lethargic play, Indiana went to Iowa CIty on Jan. 21, 2021 and stunned No. 4-ranked Iowa in what was easily the Hoosiers' best win of the season.

Editor's Note: This is the eighth installment in our 10-part series on HoosiersNow.com publisher Tom Brew's 10 favorite Indiana games during the 2020-21 school year.

There was no reason to think anything special was going to happen when Indiana traveled to Iowa City on an unseasonably warm January. Archie Miller's Hoosiers had been struggling, barely beating a bad Nebraska team on the road and then looking lethargic and non-caring in a home loss to arch-rival Purdue. 

Iowa, meanwhile, was on a roll. The Hawkeyes were ranked No. 4 in the country and had a national Player of the Year candidate in Luka Garza. They had won five Big Ten games in a row, four of them by 15 points, and looked liked national title contenders.

The Hawkeyes were 10-point favorites for a reason. 

But somehow and some way, everything came together for the Hoosiers, at least for a few hours. And they strolled out of Carver-Hawkeye Arena with an 81-69 and big, long smiles stretched across their faces. 

A big win, and big smiles? Two rarities for sure during this brutal 12-15 season, But for that one night in Iowa City, everything was right with the world. It was a great game, a total team effort, and at least for one night, it showed what the Hoosiers could do at their best.

One of the keys to the win was the fact that Indiana had a road game at Michigan State scheduled for earlier in the week, but it was postponed because of COVID-19 issues inside the Michigan State program. So the Hoosiers had a week between games, and they sort of hit the re-set button.

They went to Iowa with a fresh attitude.

"We played hard," Miller said. "A lot of guys contributed and we gave great effort. Offensively, we took care of the ball and we moved the ball well against the zone. We were able to crack open the game.

"We had to draw the line in the sand in how we're working. We had to challenge some guys. Guys challenged each other. It's being accountable. Doing your job. Being where you're supposed to be."

Even more surprising was that Indiana dealt with serious foul trouble all night long, and won anyway. Star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis played great despite the foul trouble, scoring 23 points in just seven minutes.

The unsung star of the night was 6-foot-6 freshman forward Jordan Geronimo, who had to guard the 6-11 Garza with Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson both in foul trouble. Geronimo frustrated the daylights out of him, especially in the second half when the Hoosiers made a run. Geronimo also made all three shots and finished with seven points.

 "He's been down on himself. This week we tried to emphasize getting his confidence back up,'' Jackson-Davis said of Geronimo. "He was amped up and ready to play. He did a good job against one of the best players in the country."

Indiana freshman Jordan Geronimo (22) dunks while Iowa All-American Luka Garza looks on during the Hoosiers' upset of No. 4 Iowa on Jan. 21, 2021. (USA TODAY Sports)

Geronimo and fellow freshmen Anthony Leal and Khristian Lander all played together for several minutes, and Leal hit a couple of big shots. And Indiana guards Rob Phinisee, Al Durham and Armaan Franklin – who were all wildly inconsistent all year – all played great that night. They combined for 43 points and made seven three-pointers. Phinisee had 18, Durham 14 and Franklin 11.

During Miller's four years at Indiana, this was the highest ranked opponent to go down, which made it all the more surprising. Indiana was 2-8 against ranked teams last year – with both wins coming against Iowa. 

There were very few enjoyable moments during the 2020-21 basketball season, but that January night in Iowa City would certainly one of them.'

It was the best basketball win of the year, without a doubt.

Previous 'Favorite Games' stories

• NUMBER 10: Indiana's football team has struggled at Wisconsin for decades, so it was very sweet to go up there and steal a 14-6 win on Dec. 5, 2020 in quarterback Jack Tuttle's first-ever college start. CLICK HERE
• NUMBER 9: Armaan Franklin was having a brutal shooting night against Iowa in Assembly Hall on Feb. 7, 2021, right up until he hit the game-winning shot with 1.8 seconds left to go. CLICK HERE
• NUMBER 8: Collin Hopkins hits a walk-off home run after a long rain delay to help Indiana beat Illinois 6-4 and end the Hoosiers' five-game winning streak. CLICK HERE
• NUMBER 7: Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has a game for the ages, throwing for 491 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-35 loss to No. 3 Ohio State inside an empty stadium in Columbus. CLICK HERE
• NUMBER 6: Indiana's women's basketball team has been soaring to new heights under coach Teri Moren, and this year, the Hoosiers reached the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. CLICK HERE
• NUMBER 5: Indiana never takes it for granted in making the College Cup, the NCAA's version of the Final Four for men's soccer. The Hoosiers got there again, and won a thriller over Pittsburgh in the semifinals to get another title shot. CLICK HERE
• NUMBER 4: Indiana had beaten Michigan only once in 40 tries, but that all changed in November when the Hoosiers pushed them all over the Memorial Stadium field and won 38-21 for their third straight victory to start the season. CLICK HERE