By Shawn Gibbs

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – They did it again, and this time was even more incredible because of how the game-winning shot went in the basket.

Six days after Jordan Bohannon made a 3-point basket to defeat Northwestern, Iowa freshman Joe Wieskamp did the same thing against Rutgers on Saturday.

The 6-foot-6 Muscatine native made a 3-point basket at the buzzer to defeat Rutgers 71-69 before a sellout crowd at the RAC.

Wieskamp’s shot from the baseline hit near the top of backboard, but still managed to fall through the basket as No. 21 Iowa won its fourth game in a row and improved to 20-5 overall and 9-5 in the Big Ten.

This marks the fifth time in nine seasons under head coach Fran McCaffery that Iowa has won at least 20 games.

Wieskamp and his cohorts also have won nine of their last 11 Big Ten games after starting 0-3 in conference play.

Wieskamp admitted to the media afterwards that he didn’t call bank on his game-winning shot, but it didn’t matter because it still counted as three points and was enough to secure Iowa’s fourth Big Ten road victory this season.

“I (ended) up being in the right place at the right time and got it and knew that I had to get it up quick, and I was able to make it,” Wieskamp said.

Point guard Connor McCaffery was trying to throw the inbounds pass in the vicinity of senior forward Nicholas Baer, and the pass was accurate enough to where Baer was able to tip the ball to Wieskamp, who was standing alone in the corner near the baseline.

It obviously took some luck for the ball to bank in, but sometimes you have to be lucky in addition to being good.

Connor McCaffery, using his baseball prowess, threw the pass from underneath his own basket and it sailed beyond midcourt, giving Iowa a chance once Baer had deflected the ball towards Wieskamp. 

So it was part luck, and part skill.

Wieskamp has struggled with lower back pain all week, so to make a game-winning shot was a nice way to relieve some of the pain.

“It was a tough week for me just dealing with back pain, so to be able to play and then to hit that shot is pretty special, and for our team as well,” Wieskamp said.

This season is now showing signs of being special, but there still is plenty of work to do with six conference games remaining, including Tuesday’s game against Maryland at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“We’ve still got six Big Ten games left in the season, plus we want to play deep into postseason,” Wieskamp said.

Wieskamp’s basket triggered a wild celebration on the court as the Iowa players continue to show that last season’s stunning decline was a fluke.

Iowa already has won six more games than last season, including five more in conference play.

Fran McCaffery told reporters after Saturday's victory that he has never experienced back-to-wins as dramatic as the last two for Iowa. And that's saying a lot with this being McCaffery's 23rd season as a head coach.

"It's very rewarding as a coach to see your players be able to celebrate multiple times this year," McCaffery said.

Junior point guard Jordan Bohannon led three Iowa players in double figures with 18 points. Junior guard Isaiah Moss scored 17 points, while junior forward Tyloer Cook scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists.

Wieskamp finished with nine points, which is nearly three below his 11.9 per-game average. But the last three points that he scored is something that Wieskamp and Iowa fans will remember and cherish forever.

"Coach has a lot of confidence in me, and the guys do as well," Wieskamp said. "So I just go out there and try to play my game. I try to let the game come to me and try not to force too many shots."  

Iowa prevailed despite sophomore center Luka Garza being held to just seven points, which is nearly half below his 13.8 per-game average, and despite only gettting eight points from the reserves.

"You're thrilled for your guys that they're competing and they're staying together and they're staying connected and we're overcoming," Fran McCaffery said. "A couple guys had some off games. Last year, if we had a couple guys with off games, we couldn't win."

The 6-5 Moss has scored 17 and 16 points in each of the past two games after having being held scoreless in the previous two games before that.

"I felt comfortable, I was just trying to be active," Moss said. "I saw that they were up into all of us. So it was pretty easy for me just to dribble passed them and the lane opened up, so I had some good opportunities to finish."

Moss described the past two games as being crazy.

"I'm still like processing it all," he said. "Especially with the game before when (Jordan's) three-pointer won the game.

"I'm happy for Joe. It's a big shot. And I'm happy we got the win."