A highly contested back and forth contest ended with Iowa sending Ohio State down to their 15th straight road loss and fourth overall, nipping Ohio State 79-77 in Iowa City. Iowa used a 17-0 advantage in fast break points to edge the Buckeyes in a game that featured 15 ties and 10 lead changes. Iowa shot it at a 55% clip with just 3 of 10 from 3 and Ohio State hit 46% and made 7 of 16 from deep. Jamison Battle led the Buckeyes with 17, while Bruce Thornton and Felix Okpara added 14 each. Roddy Gayle chipped in 12. Tony Perkins led Iowa with 20 and Josh Dix and Peyton Sandfort added 15 each. Patrick McCaffery added 10. 

Iowa opened the scoring, hitting a 15 foot jumper on their opening possession.  The Buckees answered as Felix Okpara tipped in his own miss and after a defensive stop, incredible ball movement inside and out led to Jamison Battle freeing up in the right corner for three. After an Iowa score, Roddy Gayle drilled a triple from the right wing and the Buckeyes were doubling up the Hawkeyes. Iowa cut into the lead with a hoop on their end, but Ohio State answered again when Bruce Thornton found Evan Mahaffey on the right block and he scored off the window. 7 straight Hawkeye points had Iowa back in front, but a beautiful interior pass from Mahaffey to Okpara for a flush cut into the lead. Iowa scored again on their end but a step back three by Thornton tied it. Iowa quickly the other way scored again and Chris Holtmann took a timeout at the 13:30 mark with Iowa leading 17-15 and hitting on 8 of 10 shot attempts. The Buckeyes tied the score out of the timeout when Zed Key caught a pass at the right elbow and fed to Devin Royal on the right block and Royal scored off the window. Ohio State grabbed a lead when Gayle, from the left wing fed Royal on the left block and Royal flushed it with authority and at the under 12 media timeout, Ohio State led 19-17. Iowa tied it quickly out of the timeout off a baseline inbounds play and took the lead on their next possession, banging down a pair of free throws. The Buckeyes tied it when Mahaffey dropped in a turnaround 10 footer from the left, but the Hawks shifted back in front with a short baseline jumper. Ohio State tied it back up when Royal scored off the window from the right block and at the under 8, the game was knotted at 23. The Hawkeyes hit the stripe out of the break and made both to go back in front and added another jumper to shift ahead 4. The Buckeyes cut into the lead when Royal, who had his initial attempt blocked, recovered and scored in the middle of the lane. Ohio State regained the lead when Gayle rebounded a Royal miss and scored through contact and knocked down the free throw to complete the old-fashioned three point play. Ohio State added to their lead when Gayle lobbed to Okpara for a lay in, but Iowa ended the mini Buckeye run with a jumper on their end. The Buckeyes came right back when Mahaffey found a cutting Gayle for a lay in right of the rim. Iowa came back quickly, hitting a fade away from the left elbow, but on the other end, Mahaffey split the D from the right wing with the dribble drive and scored left of the rim. Quickly back the other way, Iowa answered again and when Okpara was fouled attempting a short jumper, the under 4 media timeout was called with 2:33 left in the first half, Ohio State was clinging to a 34-33 lead. Okpara hit the stripe out of the timeout and he buried the pair to increase the lead back to 3. A pair of Iowa offensive rebounds led to a wide open 3 and the game was tied. Okpara with the left hand hook mid paint at the end of the shot clock put the Buckeyes back in front which would complete the scoring after a wild last few seconds. Iowa shot it at a 54% clip in the first half, hitting 2 of 6 from deep, while Ohio State converted 50% of their attempts, including 3 of 6 from downtown. Each team collected 15 rebounds and while Ohio State was out scoring Iowa 26-18 in the paint, Iowa out scored the Buckeyes 9-0 on fast break points. The Buckeyes were having a difficult time defending the up tempo Iowa offense, but were tremendously efficient on the offensive end, assisting on half of their made buckets. Felix Okpara led the Buckeyes with 10 first half points, while Roddy Gayle and Devin Royal added 8 each. Peyton Sandifort led Iowa with 9.

On the opening possession of the half Iowa grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to tie it and after an Ohio State turnover, Iowa got out in transition and dunked to go in front. Back to back threes by Thornton and Battle put the Buckeyes up 4, but four straight Iowa points tied the score. Thornton stopped the run, getting to the rim off the bounce and scored off the window to put Ohio State back ahead, but another transition bucket by the Hawks tied the game once again. A Battle runner put Ohio State back ahead, but after another offensive rebound, Iowa made Ohio State pay with a triple to shift back in front by a point. After another Buckeye miss, Iowa, in transition again, scored with a layup forcing Chris Holtmann to call a timeout at the 14:08 mark with Iowa now leading 51-48. The Buckeyes tied the score when Thornton got into the lane on a dribble drive and kicked back to Dale Bonner on the top, who buried the triple and on the next possession Royal went to the stripe and split the pair to give Ohio State a 1 point lead. After a defensive stop, Gayle got to the rim and was fouled attacking the rim sending the teams to their respective benches for the under 12 media timeout with Ohio State leading 52-51. Gayle went to the stripe out of the timeout and knocked down the pair putting the Buckeyes up three. An Iowa rebound and put back broke the 6-0 Buckeye run and ended an over 3 minute drought for the Hawkeyes and drew Iowa within a point. After the Buckeyes came up empty on their possession, an old-fashioned three point play by the Hawks had them back in front a pair. Three more Hawkeye free throws increased the Iowa lead to 5, their largest of the game. The 8-0 Hawkeye run was stopped when Okpara knocked down a pair of freebies, but Iowa came right back with two man action leading to a dunk. Gayle answered, getting to the rim off the bounce and laying it in off the glass. Iowa scored again on their possession with a teardrop mid-paint, but Battle banked in a three from the right point and Ohio State took a timeout with 7:22 left in the game and Iowa leading 63-61 as Battle walked to the huddle with a smirk. An Iowa jumper increased the Hawkeye advantage, but Battle grabbed an offensive rebound and scored. Iowa kept answering, hitting another mid range jumper, but a pair of Battle free throws kept the deficit at two with 4:34 to play. A Buckeye steal created another opportunity and Thornton took advantage, getting to the rim to tie it. Iowa quickly shifted back in front with a short jumper and after Thornton was fouled attempting a shot at the right block, the under 4 media timeout was called with 3:30 to go and Iowa clinging to a 69-67 lead. Out of the timeout, Thornton was on the stripe and he knocked down the pair to tie it, but once again, Iowa answered with a baseline fader. A missed foul call on the Ohio State end leading to a tie up gave the ball back to Iowa and a pair of free throws put Iowa up 4 with 2 minutes left. Battle hit a floater to cut into the lead, but Iowa split a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 3. An Okpara dunk with a minute to play cut the deficit to just 1 and after an Iowa miss, a tie up gave the ball back to Ohio State with 38.6 seconds left. A double dribble by Okpara at the top of the key gave the ball back to Iowa and Ohio State took a timeout with 24 seconds to play. A foul put the Hawks on the stripe with 24 seconds to play and they buried both to go up 3. Iowa fouled Ohio State with 13 seconds to go and Thornton went to the line and sunk the pair to cut the deficit to 1.  The Buckeyes fouled in the backcourt with 11 seconds left sending Iowa back to the line and both dropped to put Iowa back up 3.  Iowa fouled with 8 seconds left sending Bonner to the stripe and he split the pair to cut the lead to 2. A Buckeye foul walked it back to the other end and they split the pair. Bonner was fouled again with 4.5 to play and he made the first and missed the second and the snusing scramble seemed to go out of bounds off of Iowa but the officials ruled that the game had ended Iowa escaping with the win. 

That was a really tough one. The offense was extremely efficient in big stretches, but defensively they really struggled especially in transition as Iowa was getting easy baskets on multiple occasions, answering Ohio State every time they tried to make a run. The Buckeyes showed a lot of encouraging signs. The effort was at a maximum level, but unfortunately it still wasn’t enough to get the win. Felix Okpara showed some real progress in this game despite the late game turnover and Devin Royal came in and provided some good minutes and showed flashes, primarily in the first half. There are a lot of things to like going forward and while they may not come to fruition this season, if they can add a real impact portal player or two in the offseason and the NIL collective has hinted that they are planning to go all out in that direction, this thing could turn around in a hurry. As fans, we just have to stay patient even though it has been a difficult last 13 months. There are more opportunities for this team to improve and get things back on track and their next chance will be on Tuesday night back at home and they really need Buckeye Nation to get behind them and support them and appreciate their effort win or lose.

The Buckeyes come back home for the first of two in the friendly confines, hosting Indiana at the Schott on Tuesday evening. Tip time for that matchup is slated for 7 PM and airing on Peacock. 

-Jason Harris