By Richard Podhajsky

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Having finally been clipped at the buzzer, the 21st-ranked Iowa men’s basketball team will try to start a new winning streak as it heads into the final few weeks of the regular season.

The Hawkeyes had their four-game winning streak snapped by No. 24 Maryland on Tuesday but now will face an opponent in the bottom half of the conference when struggling Indiana comes to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday. Iowa already defeated the Hoosiers on Feb. 7 by hanging on for a 77-72 victory at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said Thursday that the recent string of close games is just what the Big Ten is this season.

"I think you just come to expect that,” McCaffery said. “That’s what this league is and that’s what typically happens the second part of the conference schedule. I mean, every game’s been like that, even the ones we’ve won.

“Obviously, the Illinois game was a little bit of an outlier because we made all those threes in a row. And that might happen – you hope it happens once a year. You hope it happens more than once but it typically doesn’t.”

Iowa junior forward Tyler Cook thinks Indiana will be more determined to win on Friday after what happened in the first game against Iowa.

"To me, it's more exciting because you know you're going to get a better version of them than we've seen," Cook said. "So I think after our win up there, they'll be ready to play tomorrow and put their best foot forward.

"And as a competitor, that's what you want. You want to play against the best of the best. All of our guys recognize that and I think that we'll be ready and we're excited for a challenge like that."

Already up to 20 wins this season, Iowa has put itself in position to make a return to the NCAA Tournament after having missed out on the last two seasons. However, the Hawkeyes can ill-afford a loss to a Hoosier team that is 13-13 overall and 4-11 in conference play.

“It is (a challenge playing a team a second time),” McCaffery said. “When you’re playing Indiana and you know what they’ve done this year. They’ve had some great wins. We know what that game was down there, how difficult it was. Our guys know what’s coming in here tomorrow night.”

Iowa is one of the most experienced teams in the Big Ten, but still only has one senior on the roster in forward Nicholas Baer. And though he is excited about the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, Baer also knows the danger of looking ahead.

All that matters to him right now is trying to defeat Indiana on Friday.

"I think we've shown definite growth this year and I think we have a bit more maturity this season," Baer said. "And part of maturity is understanding you're not trying to get too high on wins and too low on losses.

"Understand that we had a tough game our last game against Maryland. But we still have another opportunity against Indiana. It's a very good team, so we're really just focused on staying the course."

Heralded freshman Romeo Langford scored a team-high 22 points in the first game against Iowa and he leads the Hoosiers in scoring with a 17.1 per-game average.

The 6-foot-6 Langford is expected to be a first-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, assuming he comes out early.

"The kid is definitely talented, there is no doubt about that," Cook said. "He's got crazy skills for a guy that is 6-7, 6-8, fluid, super athletic, especially with the ball." 

Iowa sophomore center Luka Garza was held to just four points in the first game against Indiana after getting into early foul trouble. That was the start of a four-game stretch in which Garza has scored seven or fewer points.

Garza only scored five points against Maryland on Tuesday and was tough on himself after the loss, maybe too tough as he blamed himself for the loss.

"You can't take the blame for that, one player," Fran McCaffery said. "We all take it together. Typically, the coach takes the blame for the loss and the players get the credit for the win. That's the way it should be." 

The final five games set up well for Iowa with four of the five against teams with losing Big Ten records. Friday is also Iowa’s second-to-last home game of the season.

The game is set for an 8:15 p.m. tip-off on FS1.

Iowa has won eight of the last 12 games against Indiana at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, although, Indiana edged the Hawkeyes 84-82 last season in Iowa City.