Ohio State Basketball: Buckeyes Score Big Win Over Iowa, 68-64

It might be a little too late, but the Buckeyes added their second quality win of the season in their two point victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes. Ohio State entered their final three game stretch, against Michigan State and Iowa, needing to win two of the three games to give themselves a chance at an at-large tournament bid.

After being blown out by the Spartans on Tuesday night, the Buckeyes came into today absolutely desperate for a win. While it was extremely sloppy at times, their effort showed how much they were still playing for.

The first half was a back and forth affair, neither team able to stretch a lead past a possession or two. Iowa shot only 39 percent from the field in the first half, and missed on all 7 of their three point attempts. They also committed 9 turnovers in the opening period.

Despite 11 turnovers of their own, Ohio State closed out the half on a 9-2 run that gave them a 5 point lead heading into the break. Marc Loving and Keita Bates-Diop led the way, scoring 13 and 11 points.

Iowa outscored Ohio State 19-11 in the first ten minutes of the second half, and owned a three point lead at the halfway mark. Dom Uhl hit a three pointer to push the Hawkeyes’ lead to 6, and it looked as if the Buckeyes might have been in the danger zone, close to falling too far behind.

Marc Loving responded with two free throws to cut it to four. He then stole the ball on the following possession, leading to a Bates-Diop jumper that brought the lead all the way down to two with only 5 minutes to play.

Iowa would get it back up to 6 less than a minute after, but Ohio State again had an answer.

Kam Williams knocked down a jumper to cut the lead to four. It was Marc Loving hitting another three ball, one of his four on the day, and the lead was down to a single point.

The Buckeyes would take the lead on their next possession, but not without a little controversy.

Kam Williams buried a long jumper from the top of the floor, giving the Buckeyes a two point lead with only two minutes left in the game. The officials immediately went to the monitor to review the play. While it appeared that the official closest to Williams signaled it a three pointer, the officials ruled it a two point shot before going to the monitor. Even despite fairly good video evidence that Williams was behind the line, it was ruled a two. The Buckeyes’ lead was at one.

It ended up being meaningless anyways.

After trading misses, Kam Williams came up with the biggest shot of the season. Off of a nice feed from JaQuan Lyle, Williams was able to knock down his only three ball of the game, giving the Buckeyes a 4 point lead with a minute to play.

Iowa answered back with a finish at the rim, cutting the lead to two. After a poor possession by the Buckeyes that saw Lyle force up a three to beat the shot clock, Iowa had the ball with a chance to tie or win the game.

The Hawkeyes put the ball in Mike Gesell’s hands, and he was able to get to the rim with relative ease. But the Buckeyes had one more winning play in them. Bates-Diop had a clean block from behind as Gesell went up to the rim. Marc Loving secured the basketball, and then knocked down two free throws to put the game away.

The loss is the third straight for an Iowa team that came into the week as the 8th ranked team in the country.

For the Buckeyes, it was more proof of the growth that this team has seen through the course of the season. While it was far from a beautiful performance, they grinded out a win against a team that, while struggling, is going to be a fairly high seed in the NCAA tournament.

It is, without a doubt, a resume booster. But there is still a ton of work to be done. The Buckeyes will again find themselves in a game they can’t afford to lose, unless they are to win the Big Ten tournament, when they travel to East Lansing next Saturday. That will be senior day for the Spartans, who will be sending off player of the year candidate Denzel Valentine.

That environment will be unlike anything this young basketball team has seen this year, and both teams will have the 19 point beatdown of the previous week fresh in their minds.

Next: Fast Start to 2017 Class

For the Buckeyes to win the game they will have to play better than they have all season. Getting performances from Loving and Bates-Diop like they did today makes this team so much more dangerous than they have been for most of the season, and they will absolutely need to be big in the Breslin Center.

Tipoff for the game is set for noon.