Ohio State basketball vs. Iowa: Preview, predictions

Can the Ohio State basketball team finally stop its slide? They try once again tonight as they take on Iowa at 9 pm ET. Iowa is one of the two teams that the Buckeyes have beaten since the calendar turned to 2023. Ohio State beat them at the Schott 93-77.

Those 93 points were the third-most that the Buckeyes have scored all season and by far the most they’ve scored in Big Ten play. It’s the one game where the offense has actually looked connected throughout and they actually moved the ball well.

Since that game, the ball movement has stopped. Ohio State had just 5 assists in their last game against Michigan State. The result was just 42 points and a 21-point loss. I’m not really sure what else the Buckeyes can try to remedy that, but they did beat this team already.

According to FanDuel, Iowa is a 7.5-point favorite. That seems low to me considering the offensive output that we’ve seen this Ohio State basketball team have the last couple of months. They’re certainly not putting 90 up on the Hawkeyes again.

Prediction: Iowa 75 Ohio State basketball 62

There have been more times when the Buckeyes have struggled to get to the 60-point mark than times when they’ve scored 90. There’s no way that they get close to that on the road. I don’t see any way that they can stop Kris Murray from killing them either.

Ohio State will once again struggle to score because they won’t move the ball. I expect them to score more than 14 points in the first half this time, but it won’t matter anyway. If they can’t win games at home, they certainly can’t go on the road and beat a good team.

Maybe Chris Holtmann’s team comes out and surprises us and wins this game. That would certainly be a shock to me.