Ohio State basketball: Top ten showdown a chance to send a message

The Ohio State basketball team will take on Iowa tonight at 7 pm on ESPN in a game that will give the Buckeyes a chance to send a message to the rest of college basketball.

The Ohio State basketball team is the second-highest ranked team in the Big Ten Conference in the polls right now, sitting at seventh. They will play Iowa tonight, who is one spot behind them at eighth. Both teams will be looking to make a big statement to the rest of college basketball.

Ohio State has been on fire recently, winning six of their last seven games. Quite frankly, they should have won that other game too. They choked away a big lead against Purdue, so their record could be even better than what it is now at 14-4.

The Buckeyes did get some bad news when they found out that they will be without the services of Jimmy Sotos for the rest of the season after he opted to have shoulder surgery. That will hurt their point guard depth the rest of the way, although they seemed to have coped with it well so far.

Luka Garza will be the main attraction tonight to watch. Garza is a Player of the Year candidate, posting 26.5 points per game, 8.8 rebounds a game, and 1.7 blocks per game. All of those numbers are team highs. Garza also shoots almost 60% from the field and 45.6% from three.

Stopping Garza will be the number one priority for Chris Holtmann. Kyle Young will likely draw the assignment of guarding Garza. Having him and E.J. Liddell double-team Garza in the post might be the best way to defend him, but they can’t do that all game because Iowa has shooters all over the court.

Iowa scores the second-most points in the country, scoring a blistering 89.4 points per game. It certainly helps when you have the nation’s leading scorer in Garza. Ohio State will have to defend the three-point line and limit scoring opportunities for the Hawkeyes in transition.

Game prediction: Iowa 85 Ohio State 76

This game is at Iowa and that makes a slight difference, even without fans. Ohio State hasn’t faced a team with this much offensive talent all year long. They played really tough defense against Michigan State in stretches on Sunday. They would have to play an entire game like that to have a chance.

In the end, I just don’t think the Buckeyes have anyone good enough to stop Garza right now. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t fare better in a rematch in the Big Ten Tournament or even the NCAA Tournament. But right now, Iowa gets the best of the Buckeyes.

I very much hope I’m wrong and will be rooting for the Buckeyes the whole way!