Make it back to back wins for the Ohio State men’s basketball team, winning two in a row for the first time since late December, never trailing, pounding visiting Iowa 82-65. The Buckeyes, who won a home conference game for just the 2nd time and first since mid December, snapped a three game home losing streak and improved to 12-8, 4-5, while Iowa dropped their 4th in the last 5 games to fall to 13-8, 4-6. Ohio State opened the second half on a 20-4 run, opening up a tight game and building a lead as large as 25 en route to the win.The Buckeyes, who assisted on 15 of 30 made shots, hit 57% in the second half, 48.4% for the game that included 8 of 27 from long range, holding Iowa to just 39%. The Buckeyes dominated the glass in the second half to the tune of 23-11 and held Iowa to zero offensive rebounds in the second 20 minutes. Micah Parrish led Ohio State with 18 points and 6 rebounds, hitting 6 of 7 from the stripe. Bruce Thornton added 15 points and 8 rebounds and 3 assists, while Devin Royal added 12 and 8. John Mobley, Jr., although struggled from the floor, hitting on just 4 of 13 and 2 of 10 from beyond the arc, finished with 12 points and 8 assists. Iowa got a game high 20 from Drew Thelwell, 14 from Own Freeman and 13 from Payton Sandfort in a losing effort.
The pace was frenetic in the opening minutes with Ohio State scoring first when Devin Royal scored on a short jumper in the middle of the lane. After Iowa scored the next 4, Bruce Thornton drilled a three. Iowa would shift ahead again with a bucket, but a slip screen by Aaron Bradshaw finished with Thornton finding a rolling Bradshaw for a lay-in. John Mobley, Jr added to the lead with a long triple from the top and at the first media timeout, Ohio State led 10-6. Iowa came out of the timeout scoring the next 5 to regain the lead before Ohio State ended the run when Thornton scored in the lane, drawing a foul in the process just before the under 12 with Ohio State leading 12-11. Thornton missed the free throw coming out of the timeout and on the other end, Iowa converted their old-fashioned three point play to go up by 2. The Buckeyes broke a 2+ minute scoring drought when Thornton found Bradshaw in the lane for a dunk. The Buckeyes out scored the Hawkeyes 7-2 over the next couple minutes to take a lead, capped off by a Parrish triple from the right wing. Iowa cut into the lead with a heavily defended jumper and at the under 8 minute media timeout, Ohio State led 21-18. Ohio State extended the lead out of the timeout when Mobley went up and under near the rim for two. A Parrish offensive rebound and score was followed on the next trip by a Royal three from the left wing to put the Buckeyes up 10 and on a 12-2 run. Iowa ended the run with a three from the top and at the final media timeout of the first half, Ohio State led 28-21. Iowa got a little closer with another triple, but the 6-0 run was stopped when Ivan Njegovan tipped in an errant shot. Iowa scored the last bucket of the half, out scoring the Buckeyes 8-2 in the final 4 minutes to close to within 4 as the teams hit the locker rooms with Ohio State leading 30-26 after 20 minutes. Ohio State finished the first half, hitting 40.6% of their shot attempts and just 4 of 15 from long range. Ohio State’s defense forced Iowa to struggle from the floor, hitting on just 34% shooting and just 3 of 14 from beyond the arc. Ohio State had a balanced scoring attack in the first half, led by 7 each from John Mobley, Jr and Micah Parrish while Iowa only put 4 in the scoring column, led by 11 each from Drew Thelwell and Owen Freeman to lead all scorers.
Iowa opened the second half scoring with a bucket off a baseline dribble drive, but back to back lay ups by Bradshaw and Royal extended the Buckeye lead to 6. After Iowa split a pair of free throws, Ohio State broke a full court press with Ques Glover finding Royal, who scored at the rim through contact. His ensuing free throw completed the three point play and after a defensive stop, Parrish scored off a dribble drive and the Buckeyes were back ahead by 10. Just before the under 16 media timeout, Glover drilled a jumper just above the stripe and with Ohio State on an 11-1 run, the Buckeyes led 41-29. The Hawkeyes stopped the run with a left wing triple, but on the other end, Mahaffey tip dunked a Stewart miss. After Glover poked the ball loose on the defensive end, the Buckeyes got out in transition where a penetrating Mobley fed Royal for a lay-in forcing Iowa to call a timeout with 13:39 to play and Ohio State leading 45-32. More Buckeyes out of the timeout. After a Thornton three, Stewart swiped a pass and went the other way for a dunk, bringing the crowd to their feet and forcing Iowa to take another timeout at the 12:25 mark, with the Buckeyes now leading 50-32. Iowa broke an over 3 minute scoring drought with a floater in the lane, but a pair of Parrish free throws answered. The Buckeyes added to the lead when Mahaffey scored at the rim. After a Hawkeye three, Mobley drilled a long three from the top to put the Buckeyes back ahead by 20. The lead extended by 3 more when Thornton drilled a triple and after a Hawkeye bucket, Stewart went to the rim with authority and scored off the window. Iowa converted an old-fashioned three point play and after Stewart was fouled on the other end, the officials took the under 8 minute timeout with Ohio State leading 62-42. Stewart came out of the timeout and calmly made both free throws to extend the lead. The Hawkeyes scored the next 6 to force Jake Diebler to take a timeout with 7 minutes to play and the Buckeyes leading 64-48. The Buckeyes stopped the run when Parrish caught a Mobley pass in the left corner, pump faked to get the Iowa defender off his feet, reset and drilled a three. 4 Buckeye free throws and 3 from Iowa preceded a beautiful Buckeye press break where Mobley lobbed to Bradshaw for a lay-in with a foul. The free throw dropped to complete an old-fashioned three point play and after Thornton got into the lane and scored, the Buckeye lead ballooned to 25. The Hawkeyes scored 3 more before the final media timeout with Ohio State cruising to the finish, leading 76-54. The Hawkeyes cut into the lead with a 11-4 run but it would be too little, too late as the Buckeyes coasted to the finish to complete the home win.
The Buckeyes needed that one. Coming off a huge road upset win of Purdue, it was imperative that they kept the momentum despite being off for 6 days. A tight game for much of the first half, they started to pull away late in the first half before a late flurry kept Iowa close, but the Buckeyes came storming out of the locker room, burying the Hawkeyes early in the second half, building a huge lead and never looking back. The Buckeyes won this game with solid halfcourt defense, holding the Hawkeyes, who came in shooting 40% from three, to just 28% and 20 points below their season average. Limiting the second chance opportunities was also extremely critical, not allowing Iowa extra opportunities in the half court to find their shooting rhythm. When you win a conference game that comfortably, which has been the exception to the rule around the league this season, it takes a total team effort and that’s what they got on this night. Aaron Bradshaw came off the bench to score 9 big points, and despite only scoring 6, Sean Stewart played an excellent floor game, coming down with 6 rebounds, to go along with 3 steals and 2 blocks. Evan Mahaffey also came off the bench and gave solid minutes defensively and grabbed 5 rebounds himself. All in all, a total team win and continues the positive momentum as Ohio State has to turn around quickly to play 2 road games on Thursday and Sunday. Playing one of the toughest schedules in the country to this point, Ohio State is showing signs of the growth and consistency that it will take moving forward to finish January and head into February with a chance to climb in the Big Ten standings.
The Buckeyes hit the road for the first of two straight road contests, playing at Penn State on Thursday evening for a 6:30 scheduled tip time airing on FS1.
-Jason Harris