Ohio State’s NCAA tournament hopes likely came to an end with a 77-70 loss to underdog Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten tournament held Wednesday night inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Buckeyes struggled to contain Iowa’s elite offense the entire game, allowing the Hawkeyes to shoot 54.7 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three, while they also struggled on offense when they needed it the most, making just 42.4 percent of their shots and 22.7 percent of its threes.
Ohio State had its chances to win, using a 12-3 run to lead by one with just under 10 minutes left, but Iowa outscored the Buckeyes 21-13 the rest of the way to advance to the second round against No. 7 seed Illinois and send OSU home with a one-and-done trip to Indianapolis.
It was an ugly start for both teams — with neither squad making a field goal for the first 4:58 — but Ohio State mustered enough offense to hold an early 6-0 lead with 14:57 left after a Ques Glover three. Iowa then woke up in a big way, making five straight field goals to take an 11-8 lead with 11:45 left in the half after a Payton Sandfort three.
That sequence seemed to open things up for the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes, who went shot for shot over the ensuing minutes at a blazing pace en route to a 24-24 tie with 7:10 left after a Josh Dix three.
The game continued to see-saw back-and-forth the rest of the half. The two teams exchanged leads three times and tied twice over the next 5:36 until John Mobley Jr. knotted the score at 37 at the break with a deep three.
After missing each of its first five shots, Iowa made 14 of its last 22 shots of the period (63.6 percent). OSU, meanwhile, shot just 39.3 percent from the field (11 of 28) in the half.
Iowa continued to excel on offense out of the break by making eight of its first 12 shots of the half to build a 54-46 lead with 13:51 left. Ohio State gained much-needed life by using strong defense to go on a 12-3 run and take its first lead of the half, going up 58-57 with 8:49 left after a contested Bruce Thornton jumper.
The Buckeyes then hit a wall offensively, turning over the ball four times and missing four of their next five shots to allow Iowa to gradually assume back control and lead 68-61 with 3:37 left.
Ohio State tried to mount a comeback by getting a layup from Micah Parrish, two straight baskets from Thornton and then another Thornton layup off a turnover to trail 72-70 with just 45 seconds left. But OSU relinquished a wide open three to Brock Harding with just 16 seconds left to put the lead back up to five, 75-70, and ice any chances of a Buckeye miracle.
Ohio State was led in the loss by Thornton with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting and a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the line. He also dished out a team-high assists. Royal (17) and Parrish (16) were the only other two Buckeyes in double figures as they scored just three bench points as opposed to the 27 for Iowa.
The Hawkeyes were led by Sandfort with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, while Harding had 15 and Pryce Sandfort added 10.
