No. 20 Indy Rallies Past Iowa

Chalk up another first for Bob Knight.

The Indiana coach, whose No. 20 Hoosiers earned a first-round bye in next week's Big Ten Conference tournament, presented the game ball to guard Rob Turner after Saturday's 88-81 victory over No. 18 Iowa.

And for good reason.

Making just his fourth start in the past seven weeks, Turner scored 20 points and helped rally Indiana from a 14-point deficit in the first half of the regular-season finale. The victory gave the Hoosiers the No. 3 seed in the conference tourney.

"It's great to see anytime a senior can play that well in his last game in Assembly Hall," Knight said, noting it was the first time he had awarded a game ball during the annual season-ending ceremony honoring his senior players. "Rob Turner did a hell of a job."

Turner and center William Gladness, the only other senior on the team, didn't find out they were starting until Saturday morning. Gladness had only 5 points but led both teams with 8 rebounds.

"This was a very good win for us. We needed it," Turner said.

"I thank him for that," he said of the game ball from Knight. "I just wish every night had been like this."

The Hoosiers (22-9, 9-7) had lost five straight games to the Hawkeyes (18-8, 9-7), who tied for third but will get the fifth seed in the conference tourney because of a tie-breaker.

"We were picked pretty low. To get to third is nice," said Iowa coach Tom Davis. "You always want to get to No. 1, so I'm not totally happy with it."

Turner, who reached 20 points only one other time this season, hit two straight 3-pointers that helped cut the Iowa lead to 41-40 at the break. A basket by Larry Richardson at the start of the second half gave Indiana its first lead, and there were 10 lead changes before a 3-pointer by Luke Recker put he Hoosiers in front for good.

"We were playing well, moving the ball, playing well on the defensive end ... then obviously there were some changes," Davis said. "They started getting to the free throw line a lot more and did a lot of good things. That's a real good Indiana ball club."

A 3-pointer by A.J. Guyton, who scored all of his 14 points in the second half, gave Indiana a 71-65 lead with six minutes to go. Then after a basket by Gladness, Indiana got its next 13 points on free throws. Indiana was 29-for-32 from the foul line for the game, compared with Iowa's 13-for-17.

The Hoosiers' biggest lead was at 77-67 after Guyton made one of two free throws on a technical foul on the Hawkeyes bench, which erupted after Michael Lewis threw an inbounds pass into the face of Iowa's Jacob Jaacks.

"He throws it from three feet away into a guy's face ...," Davis said. "Then they call a technical on my assistant coach for getting up from the bench."

Knight said Lewis was just trying to get the ball inbounds.

"They were crossing the line all game," Knight said of the Hawkeyes' defensive pressure on inbounds plays. "If he crosses the line and gets hit in the face, that's his problem, not the guy who's throwing the ball in."

A 3-pointer by J.R. Koch, baskets by Jess Settles and Koch and one of two free throws by Koch pulled the Hawkeyes within 80-79 with a minute to go. But ewis, Guyton and Gladness each hit two free throws, and Recker, who finished with 19 points, ended the game with a fast-break slam dunk.

Iowa was led by Settles with 23 points and Koch with 18.

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