Ohio State Knocks Off Hawkeyes, 89-85, No Top-10 Iowa City Showdown

Chris Holtmann’s team entered on Thursday having won six of the last seven games, including three wins against teams ranked in the top 15 when the games started, and only guaranteed their best win so far.

Seventh-placed Buckeyes waltzed in Iowa City, Iowa, for a top-10 clash with No. 8 Hawkeyes and won, 89-85, at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena. They improved to 15-4 overall and 9-4 in the Big Ten.

The game was tied at 75-75 with 5:23 remaining, and from there Ohio State went on to a 13-6 run brought on by Justin Ahrens’s three-point three points after he lost his first four of the night. Ahrens’ final triple put the Buckeyes in 88-81 with 2:39 remaining. Over two goalless minutes from the state of Ohio allowed Iowa to close the gap to 88-85 with 37 seconds remaining.

Four Buckeyes – EJ Liddell (16 points), Kyle Young (16 points), Duane Washington Jr. (16 points) and Justice Sueing (12 points) – scored in double digits.

Iowa, behind an attack that ranked fourth in adjusted efficiency for the past two decades, threatened to retreat before halfway through the second half.

A pair of 3s from Joe Wieskamp and Luke Garza put Fran McCaffrey’s team in the lead by 11 points with 14:29 remaining. At that time, the Buckeyes had only taken a field kick since leaving the locker room at the end of the break. Still, Duane Washington’s 3 consecutive points – along with a free throw Zed Key – narrowed the gap to four points, and a subsequent 10-5 run put Ohio State in 67-66 with 10:12 left. They exchanged blows for the rest of the night, responding quickly each time the opponent took something offensive.

The first half between the two teams met all expectations, especially in the attack. Both shot at least 47% of the ground and 40% in the 3-point range.

They came and went, with Ohio State gaining a 20-12 lead after eight and a half minutes behind six points off the bench at Zed Key. However, a quick 10-0 run in Iowa that ended with Chris Holtmann calling for a timeout after 71 seconds of action put the Hawkeyes on top and established a competitive straight at the end of the first half. Neither team had a greater advantage than four points in the last half of the first half, and Iowa went into the locker room after 20 minutes maintaining a 45-42 lead.

Three Iowa players – Luka Garza, Jordan Bohannon and Jack Nunge – each scored 11 points in the first half. Bohannon and Nunge combined to make six 3s. One of the biggest incentives for the Hawkeyes was the difference in fouls. They drew nine fouls, compared to just three Buckeyes fouls in the first half. This led to a 10 to 2 free-throw discrepancy as the teams regrouped in their respective locker rooms.

The Buckeyes scored 10 points in Justice Sueing’s first half. Duane Washington Jr. and EJ Liddell added seven each, too. Meechie Johnson’s six points and Key’s six also helped the Buckeyes offensively.

Next: Ohio State heads to College Park, Maryland, on Monday, for its only regular season game against the Terrapins (10-8, 4-7 Big Ten). The information will start at 9 pm on FS1.

Other notes

• Chris Holtmann kept his top five: Duane Washington Jr., Justin Ahrens, Justice Sueing, EJ Liddell and Kyle Young. CJ Walker continued to leave the bank.

• Ohio was without two of its 13 stock market players. Jimmy Sotos was dropped for the season after tests on his shoulder split showed he needs surgery, and Ibrahima Diallo remains out with a sprained MCL. Before the game, Holtmann mentioned how he would like to have Diallo available for the confrontation with Iowa’s attacking court.

• Iowa did not have initial guard CJ Frederick at his disposal. The team’s fourth highest scorer (8.7 points per game) was excluded due to a leg injury. He is a 50 percent 3-point shooter.

• This was the 100th game in Young’s career as Buckeye. The senior striker has averaged eight points and 5.9 rebounds in 19 minutes per game over his four-year career.

• The Buckeyes entered the day losing 79-76 in the overall series with the Hawkeyes, and they were behind 51-25 on Thursday when playing in Iowa City.