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Indiana edges Iowa, showing it can handle step up in competition

Indiana edges Iowa, showing it can handle step up in competition

Twelve days ago, Indiana tried its best to lose to woeful Minnesota. Three days later, the Hoosiers pounded NCAA tournament contender Michigan in Ann Arbor. 

Five days ago, Indiana suffered a confidence-shaking loss at floundering Penn State. On Thursday night, the Hoosiers rebounded by toppling fourth-ranked Iowa.

So who is the real Indiana?

About all we can say for sure about the Hoosiers after Thursday night's 85-78 victory over the Hawkeyes is that their 10-2 Big Ten record isn't merely a product of a soft early conference schedule. They handled a step up in class with aplomb on Thursday night, enduring a furious Iowa rally from a 15-point first-half deficit and then executing better down the stretch to secure a big victory.

Iowa was still within five with under a minute to go when Indiana forward Troy Williams split a double team off the dribble, pulled up and buried a jump shot that made it a three-possession game. The Hawkeyes never had the ball trailing by fewer than five after that.

Five Indiana players scored in double figures and 10 had at least one basket, but no Hoosiers tallied more than 14 points. Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff scored a hard-earned 24 points on 20 shots, but the Hawkeyes shot poorly from the foul line, played soft first-half defense and surrendered far too many offensive rebounds.

Indiana's victory forges a three-way first-place tie atop the Big Ten between the Hoosiers, Maryland and Iowa. Of the three contenders, Indiana has by far the toughest remaining schedule, with road games left against Michigan State and Iowa in addition to home games against Maryland and Purdue.

Indiana reached late January without losing a league game in part because they showed massive defensive improvement and in part because they didn't face many opponents in the upper half of the standings. The Hoosiers then lost at Wisconsin, needed a late surge to survive at Minnesota and suffered a stunning loss to Penn State, all of which called into question whether Tom Crean's team was truly capable of contending in the Big Ten.

Thursday's game provided an answer: Yes, Indiana's capable. But are the Hoosiers consistent enough to survive their late-season gauntlet? That's what they still have left to prove.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!