No. 8 Iowa continued its freefall, losing its third straight game in a 68-64 loss at Ohio State on Sunday afternon. The Hoosiers clinched a share of the title after the Hawkeyes’ latest disappointing setback, which followed losses at Penn State and home to Wisconsin.
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“It wasn’t good, ” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said when asked about the closing stretch on his postgame radio interview. “We didn’t execute, we didn’t defend, we didn’t rebound”. Iowa is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games.
After starting Big Ten play 10-1 the Hawkeyes have lost four of five and look lost on the offensive end of the court. Anyone see that coming a couple weeks ago?
Senior guard Mike Gesell tried to remain upbeat while the ship continues to list.
In these situations the supplementary players are needed to step forward, and outside of Mike Gesell (16 points) that did not happen against Ohio State.
McCaffrey was not happy about the lack of a whistle. “We fed into the energy, and it’s just fun when you win”.
Ohio State closes its regular season on the road in East Lansing against the No. 6 Michigan State Spartans.
Marc Loving responded with 25 points on a 7 for 13 shooting night – his best game of the season.
Loving was 4 of 6 from 3-point range while Bates-Diop was 8 for 11 from the field and grabbed six rebounds.
Sophomore guard Kam Williams struggled early but recovered and made two of the biggest shots in the game in the final minutes that propelled the Buckeyes into the lead. After Gesell failed to convert on a drive, Williams nailed a jumper from the top of the key to push the Buckeyes in front 64-62 with 2:04 remaining. He scored again, hitting a 3-pointer with 59.1 seconds left to extend Ohio State’s edge to 66-62. “We are not getting to loose balls and we are playing more tentatively than we should be playing”.
“This was a great win because of how we had to win it”, Thad Matta said. We found the open guys. “That was probably the difference”. “I just stayed confident in my ability and it worked out pretty well”.
The Buckeyes won for the fifth time in their last six games and kept slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive by picking up their second win of the season over a Top 10 team. Ohio State is 18-11 overall, 10-6 in the Big Ten, 13-5 at home and 15-12-1 against the spread.
Eighth-ranked Iowa has lost three of its last four games although it remains tied for second place in the Big Ten with Maryland. Iowa is averaging 79.3 points per game while giving up 68.6 points per game. Even if they don’t exhibit strong play in the Big Ten Tournament, performances like today from Loving and Bates-Diop at least set the table for optimism for the Buckeyes heading into next year.
Gesell completed the cross, drove to the hoop and delivered the massive throw down.
After Peter Jok missed a three for Iowa, Loving missed on a close-in shot but Iowa’s Adam Woodbury couldn’t control the rebound and Williams took advantage, knocking down a three from the left corner with a minute to go.
The Buckeyes committed 15 turnovers in the first 25 minutes, but none in the last 15.
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“I don’t think he’ll remember tomorrow but we did do it”, Matta said. “Hats off to Iowa”. Iowa also had 14 turnovers in its only home defeat to date…. The Buckeyes were humbled 81-62 by No. 6 Michigan State on the same floor five days earlier in their first game without Tate. The Buckeyes presented Tate, still in the hospital after shoulder surgery on Friday, with the game ball via FaceTime.
