Iowa Iowa/Indiana Indiana Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

After averaging just five points a game during the regular season, Boyd scored 22 points Sunday as Iowa beat Indiana 63-61 to win the Big Ten tournament.

Reggie Evans blocked Kirk Haston's last-second 3-pointer to give Iowa (22-11) the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"Everybody that grows up in Indiana wants to be a Hoosier. But things change and people want to go to different places," Boyd said. "This win today is just unbelievable. This game, coming against Indiana, is more special for me and coach."

Iowa coach Steve Alford is a favorite son in Indiana. A former Indiana Mr. Basketball, he led the Hoosiers to the 1987 national championship and was recently named to Indiana's All-Century team.

Alford was mentioned as a possible successor to Bob Knight – even before Knight was fired in September.

But this day was about Iowa, not Indiana (21-12).

"I've got great memories from there," Alford said. "I'm just happy we were able to win it. Regardless of who the opponents were along the way, to win a Big Ten title is very special."

As the final buzzer sounded, Alford embraced leading scorer Luke Recker, who's got plenty of Indiana history, too. Recker, who spent his first two years as a Hoosier, has been out since breaking his right kneecap in Iowa's Jan. 27 victory over his old school.

The Hawkeyes lost seven of their last nine regular-season games without him, and came to Chicago needing to play their way into the NCAA Tournament.

"I can't say enough about these guys," Alford said. "I'm so proud of them for what they had to endure."

Iowa got the seventh seed in the East and will play Creighton in the first round. Indiana, the fourth seed in the West, plays Kent State.

Playing their fourth game in four days, the Hawkeyes trailed by as many as nine points in the first half. But Boyd hit three straight 3s, the last one tying the game at 42 with 12:01 left.

"I was lucky," he said. "I hit some shots early that got me going and it kept me going throughout the game."

With 1:43 left, Duez Henderson hit a leaner from the left side to give Iowa a 61-59 lead. Haston missed a jumper from the top of the key with 1:12 left, and Jared Jeffries got the rebound.

But Boyd, a 5-foot-11 guard, ripped the ball away from the 6-9 Big Ten freshman of the year.

Tom Coverdale missed a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left, and Boyd again came up with the rebound. He was fouled, and made both shots to give Iowa a 63-59 lead with 21 seconds left.

"I just wanted it that bad," Boyd said. "We were supposed to do all the little things and I just happened to come up with two loose balls."

Coverdale hit a layup with 15 seconds to go, but Iowa turned the ball over on the inbounds pass. Haston missed from the corner, Henderson grabbed the rebound and Coverdale clobbered him for his fifth foul.

Henderson missed both shots with nine seconds left, and Haston grabbed the rebound.

But his 3-pointer from just beyond the arc was blocked by Evans – reminiscent of the block Haston made on Frank Williams' last-second layup attempt Saturday to preserve Indiana's semifinal victory over Illinois.

"That block was big-time," Evans said. "I wasn't doing too much offensively, so I had to do whatever I could to help my team."

Evans smacked Haston's hands, and Indiana coach Mike Davis screamed for a foul, but nothing was called. The tipped ball didn't even make it halfway to the basket, giving Iowa the victory.

"All you've got to do is watch the tape," Davis said. "Kirk got two good looks, I'm not going to say anything about it."

But Haston said he should have made the shot.

"From my point of view, it was a pretty decent play," he said. "I had two good looks and just missed them. Boyd hit big shots that were daggers, and Henderson hit a couple of jump shots that hurt us late."

Henderson finished with seven points and five rebounds. Dean Oliver had 12 points for Iowa.

Haston led the Hoosiers with 24 points and 12 rebounds, but he went nine minutes in the second half without scoring. Jeffries added 17 points and seven boards.

"This should have been our championship," Davis said. "I'm disappointed for myself, my team and Indiana fans. It was an opportunity to bring excitement back to this program."

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