Iowa 80, Northwestern 79: Josh Dix hits a 35-foot game-winner

IOWA CITY — Iowa overcame a terrible second half to beat Northwestern on a last-second Josh Dix three with 0.8 seconds left and take the win 80-79. Iowa is reminiscent of Jordan Bohannon’s triple to beat the Wildcats in 2019, earning its first win in Big Ten conference play.

Here are three takeaways from the win.

For a while it didn’t seem like the game would be close. Iowa led by 15 points at one point in the second half. With 8:12 left, the Hawkeyes gave up the lead to the Wildcats and only got it back when the clock showed only zeros.

Dix emerged from the box with 0.8 seconds left, broke free, caught an incoming pass from Brock Harding and sank a 35-footer to help Iowa turn a loss into an 80-79 victory.

“We ran a tip play for Owen (Freeman), but I told Brock that if it wasn’t open, I would try to be open up top to block a shot,” Dix said after the game. “He beat me, so I just tried to do it.”

Dix, who led all scorers with 22 points, had about as good an idea as the fans and media watching the game whether the shot would go in.

“It felt good, but I didn’t know if it was short,” Dix smiled. “It felt like it was short, but it felt direct. So yeah, I didn’t know.”

Fran McCaffery was a little more confident.

“From where I was standing it looked good when it left his hand,” McCaffery said. “He did it. I’m not surprised. He’s great.”

Northwestern head coach ChrisCollins said he knew McCaffery’s shot design would come at the last second and the Wildcats still couldn’t stop it.

“We told our guys they were going to play this,” Collins said. “We talked about staying in touch with these shooters because at .8 all they can do is catch and shoot. Josh did a great job jumping up, pulling the thing off quickly and making a big throw.”

Collins recognized the impending play because of an eerily similar shot that former Iowa point guard Jordan Bohannon made to sink Northwestern in the final seconds more than five years ago.

“They played a very similar game against us five or six years ago,” Collins said. “Bohannon fired the same shot.”

McCaffery confirmed it was the same play and recognized it was difficult to defend.

“Are you going to change everything? You don’t want to commit a foul because you’re two points ahead. You want us to make a contested, hard shot,” McCaffery said. “Every time you play a piece, there are multiple options. They took away two or three of them.”

Dix marveled at the similarities.

“That’s pretty crazy,” he laughed. “I didn’t know.”

Payton Sandfort knew it was the same play and virtually the same shot to get the win.

“That’s tough,” he laughed. “They have a really good team. … It’s a tough way out, they fought. This is a Big Ten game. It feels good to get first place – it’s the hardest.”

Sandfort is not wrong. He and the Hawkeyes haven’t won a Big Ten game in December since he’s been in Iowa City.

To be precise, the last time Iowa won a game against a Big Ten opponent in December was in 2020 — an 87-72 home win over Northwestern. For the first time in nearly four years, the Hawkeyes earned a conference win in the first month of conference play.

“(The first Big Ten win) always seemed to be the most difficult win of my career,” echoed Sandfort, who contributed 20 points and seven rebounds. “It feels like once we get the first one we can kind of get going. It feels really good. I think there are a lot of things we can improve on, but with a win it’s a lot easier to learn from.”

Dix, who also picked up his first conference win in December, agreed that the win is vital to the Hawkeyes’ future.

“It means a lot for our confidence,” Dix said. “We won’t try to get ourselves out of trouble in the middle of the season. We’ll just keep the success going and keep working.”

NEXT: Iowa travels to Ann Arbor for the second Big Ten match of the month to face Michigan (6-1) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CT on FS1.

Don’t miss any of our exclusive football, basketball and recruiting coverage. Sign up for Hawkeye Beacon here.