Excellent free throw shooting and key buckets from Alvaro Folguieras helped Iowa survive a furious Trojan rally.
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics are located directly across the street from Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and a night like Wednesday probably makes Iowa fans grateful to have a cardiologist nearby.
Their beloved Hawkeye men's basketball team looked sluggish in the first half before racing out to a 17-point lead with 10 minutes to go in the game. The lead seemed safe, but a ridiculous USC rally nearly resulted in an improbable Trojan win.
But Kam Woods' game-winning triple clanked off the front of the rim, and the Iowa faithful released a jubilant exhale.
The Hawkeyes improved to 15-5 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten play with the victory ahead of their West Coast roadtrip to Oregon and Washington.
Here are three observations from Iowa's win:
Amazing Alvaro
Tavion Banks and Bennett Stirtz tied for Iowa's scoring lead with 20 points, but the Hawkeyes might not win this game without a fantastic performance from Alvaro Folguieras.
The junior has struggled to score throughout the month of January, but saved his bounce-back performance for the best time. Iowa's offense was efficient for most of the second half, but it slowed to a complete halt during USC's rally. An open Woods three cut the Hawkeyes' once-dominant lead down to just three with 2:59 to go.
Ben McCollum chose to let his players fight through the adversity by not calling a timeout, and Folguieras responded by knocking down an open trey to extend the lead six.
Woods fired back with a bucket on the Trojans' next possession, but Folguieras was right there with a layup on Iowa's next trip. That marked the Hawkeyes' final field goal of the game, and who knows what would've happened without Folguieras' late-game heroics.
Folguieras' finished with 14 points and five rebounds - his first time reaching double figures since the UCLA win on Jan. 3.
"We can be happy. We can celebrate. We can do whatever. But the season keeps rolling," Folguieras said.
Iowa takes advantage at the line
One of McCollum's primary offensive strategies is to get to the free throw line early and often. Iowa's lack of size has made that a problem at times this year, but the Hawkeyes collected 22 free throw attempts in this one - a sizable jump from the 16 they tallied last week against Rutgers.
19 of those shots (86%) swished through the basket, which played a huge role in the outcome of the game. Banks and Stirtz each went perfect from the stripe, and the biggest foul shots of the contest came from Stirtz. After USC took a 72-71 lead with seconds to go, it attempted to double-team Iowa's senior point guard.
Stirtz had nowhere to go, but was bailed out when true freshman Jerry Easter II fouled him. Two pressure-packed free throws awaited Stirtz, but he nailed them both to give the Hawks the lead for good.
When asked after the game what was going through his mind, Stirtz gave a simple answer.
"Just giving it all the glory to God and trusting in Him," Stirtz said. "I know the work I've put in and things like that, so you got nothing to worry about, and just trusting God in that whatever happens, happens."
Iowa is finding ways to win
One of the key benchmarks for building a program is to find a way to close out games. McCollum's preached that message in many press conferences this year, and his Hawkeyes are slowly starting to figure that out.
Narrow defeats at Purdue and Iowa State were a sign of Iowa's high-major inexperience, but the Hawkeyes' last two victories over Rutgers and USC required key playmaking down the stretch. Iowa didn't make enough plays against Purdue and Iowa State, but it made the necessary plays tonight after nearly blowing the lead.
"We just kind of iced the game out," McCollum said. "You have to keep building on that. That's just something we have to learn over time and continue to learn and grow with."
While USC and Rutgers are certainly a step down from Purdue and Iowa State, these were two games the Hawks had to have. It was far from perfect, but Iowa now puts itself in a good position ahead of its annual West Coast roadtrip.
"[We're] certainly just having more mental and physical toughness out there, especially mental knowing we can do it," Stirtz said. "We know we can hang with anyone in the country, and we just had to get over the hump. I think we're doing that right now, and hopefully we carry that out to the West Coast."