Northwestern clawed back from a 15-point second-half deficit to take a two-point lead with five seconds left. But a late timeout by Hawkeye star Payton Sandfort set the stage for Josh Dix to hit a long 3-pointer as time expired and give Iowa a heartbreaking 80-79 win in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Head coach Chris Collins said postgame that adding an extra twist of the knife was that the Wildcats have seen that play before from the Hawkeyes. Jordan Bohannon beat them with a buzzer beater in 2019..

"We actually told the guys that was the play [Iowa] was going to run," Collins said. "Bohannon hit that same shot a few years ago to beat us."

It was a devastating loss for the Wildcats on the road after they put together arguably their most complete game of the season on the offensive end. Brooks Barnhizer was undeniable with 21 points, Ty Berry was resurgent with 20 and Nick Martinelli rounded out the trifecta with 19.

It marked the first game this season the Wildcats have lost when three different players score in double figures.

Iowa was led by Dix with 22 points, with Sandfort right behind him with 20.

The Wildcats fall to 6-3 with those three losses decided by just eight points, all on the road or at neutral sites.

Here are our takeaways from a gut-wrenching setback in Iowa City.

Brooks Barnhizer willed Northwestern back into the game: Iowa looked totally dominant in the first half and all of Northwestern's worst demons loomed as they fell behind 45-34.

They didn't have a primary ball handler or offense initiator. They couldn't find good looks from the 3-point line and, when they did, they couldn't hit them. They turned the ball over eight times. The defense allowed Iowa to shoot 65% in the first half. The game looked like an absolute loss from the jump.

Then, as the clock crossed 16 minutes in the second half with Iowa up 13, Barnhizer had a look in his eye, and even through the television you could see him will the Wildcats back into the game on both ends of the floor.

He knocked down a jumper on the next possession. Martinelli, his roommate, chipped in a floater. Another jumper by Barnhizer. Then, a run out off an Iowa turnover for a dunk, capping an 8-0 run and forcing the Hawkeyes to take a timeout to staunch their bleeding.

Martinelli was sensational to start the season, but it's clear that Barnhizer is this team's engine -- and he has plenty of horsepower. He finished with the aforementioned 21 points, plus 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 38 minutes.

It's not clear what kind of season Northwestern is going to have; so much still hangs in the balance. But if they can finish even in the midfield of the conference, Barnhizer should have a convincing case for First Team All-Big Ten.

Northwestern needs this version of Ty Berry badly: Alongside the sensational game from Barnhizer was the relief of a rust-free Berry.

He soured the night slightly by splitting his bonus free throws to create a 2-point lead with 5.8 seconds remaining, opening the door for Dix's heroics. But in the long-term, this was the Berry that the Wildcats need to succeed.

Berry played 29 minutes, hampered in part by four fouls by the end of the game, but still poured in 20, with 5-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc. He was confident and hunting for his shot, and it provided absolutely critical production to pull the focus of the Iowa defense away from Barnhizer and Martinelli.

Twenty points should not be the expectation, but if Berry can consistently deliver three triples and score in double digits, then it opens up so many doors for the rest of the offense.

Hunger was much improved but struggled down the stretch: After an abysmal trip out to Arizona where he looked borderline unplayable against Butler and UNLV, backup center Luke Hunger was crucial to Northwestern's comeback. His lateral mobility was a much better match against Iowa's quick center, Owen Freeman, who was third in scoring for the Hawkeyes with 16.

Hunger finished with 7 points and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes, which doesn't seem like much, but he was an eye-popping +14 in that stretch compared to his starting counterpart, Matt Nicholson, who had a point and 6 rebounds and was a -14 in his own right.

Hunger's quickness was key but his lack of athleticism was still killer. He finished 3-for-6 from the floor, almost all layups, and failed to elevate for a dunk or finish when he was fouled with 2:51 left, splitting free throws rather than setting up an and-1 opportunity.

He was victim to a pretty quick whistle, but his preference for going straight up in post defense was attacked by Iowa twice in quick succession, with Dix getting an and-1 with 1:35 left and Freeman with 1:15 -- though Freeman missed his free throw.

This was a huge correction for Hunger, back towards his ability to be a valuable contributor. He accounted for 7 of the team's 9 bench points, but there are still major gains to be made around the rim on both sides of the ball.