If your love for college basketball extends back into the 1990s, there’s a good chance you also loved the way Iowa’s Chris Street played the game.
And if you loved him, then you surely loved the gesture made by Iowa sophomore Jordan Bohannon in Sunday’s regular-season finale for the Hawkeyes.
In the first half, after he’d already connected on six 3-point shots that helped put Iowa far in front of Northwestern en route to a 77-70 victory, Bohannon made two free throws after being fouled by the Wildcats' Isiah Brown. They were the 33rd and 34th consecutive made free throws for Bohannon, tying the Iowa school record.
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That record was set by Street in 1993. It ended on Jan. 19, 1993, when Street died after the vehicle he was driving collided with a snow plow in Iowa City. He now has been gone longer than he was alive, but Street’s passion for the game and magnetic personality left an indelible mark on Hawkeyes basketball. And neither will his name be erased from that line in the Iowa record book.
When Bohannon was fouled again with 2:15 left — well, he had a decision to make. Northwestern had rallied from a deficit that stood at 19 points with 7:13 remaining to trail by just eight. The Hawkeyes needed Bohannon to hit the front end of his one-and-one. But not as much as Street deserved that record.
Coolest miss you'll ever see. @JordanBo_3 needed one more free throw to break the late Chris Street's @IowaHoops record of 34 consecutive made free throws.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 26, 2018
After the game, he admitted he missed intentionally to keep the record in Street's name. pic.twitter.com/qHYZZDcOsJ
“Obviously, that’s not my record to have,” Bohannon told Big Ten Network’s Jon Crispin. “That record deserves to stay in his name.
“It's really got me emotional. These past couple games, I knew what I wanted to do. Obviously it was a different time than I wanted to do it. But that’s something I wanted to do.”
"That's not my record to have. That record deserves to stay in his name."
— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) February 26, 2018
- @IowaHoops' @JordanBo_3 discussed his FT miss to remain tied with Chris Street's record of 34 consecutive made. pic.twitter.com/bzfOfZJD7n
Bohannon said he has gotten to know Street’s parents, Mike and Patty, and they greeted him with a hug after the game.
Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said he thought about discussing with Bohannon whether to miss, but left it up to him.
Northwestern coach Chris Collins revealed after the game that he’d been hosted by Street on a recruiting visit to Iowa, back when Collins was a star high school player at Glenbrook North in the Chicago suburbs. He said they’d remained friends afterward.
"Bravo to Jordan for doing that."
— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) February 26, 2018
- @coach_collins, on @JordanBo_3 missing FT to keep Chris Street's record intact pic.twitter.com/ITqXxd1KMO
“That’s a heck of a thing,” Collins said. “Hearing that, makes me feel good, because I know what a special guy Chris was. That’s a heck of a thing. So bravo to Jordan for doing that.”