The Buckeyes rolled to a 19-0 record for the season as the Hawkeyes provided no trouble in a 70-48 win in Value City Arena. OSU completely overpowered the hapless Hawkeyes on both sides of the court, but were particularly sloppy in their play, committing 20 turnovers during the course of the game. David Lighty’s 18 points lead all scorers in the game, to which he added 5 rebounds and 4 assists – a solid stat line for a game like this.
Both teams opened the game with strong defense, but the Buckeyes were near perfect in the early goings with Iowa on offense. The Hawkeyes started the game with nothing for the first 3 and a half minutes of play due to the tough defensive effort from the Buckeyes. An unfortunate turnover allowed the Hawkeyes to close the gap at the first timeout, but the Buckeyes started to blow it open coming out of the break.
OSU’s offense was tough to stop for Iowa early in the game. The Buckeyes used designed plays to confuse the Iowa defense and open up shooters for a quick pass and shot. Buford, Craft and Diebler all took advantage of the strategy, raining in several three pointers early to open up a double digit lead. The Bucks also found fantastic success getting the ball down to Sullinger, drawing a double-team on him and finding an outlet pass either to a shooter outside, or to Lauderdale on the other side of the paint for an easy dunk.
With 5 minutes left in the first half, the game began to feel like the Bucks just needed to prove that they could play a consistent 40 minutes through the game. Iowa looked overmatched in all phases of the game, particularly in the paint. With no ability to stop the OSU offense, the Bucks continued to pile on the points and built a tremendous lead by the half, 40-23 and Iowa no-where in sight.
At the half the Buckeyes had shot a torrid 15-28 (53.6%) from the floor and 5-11 (45.5%) from three, while Iowa was only able to hit 10-28 (35.7%) from the field and 1-4 (25%) from beyond the arc. The only player to reach double figures was William Buford, who scored 11 points on 3-4 shooting for the half. Surprisingly, the remainder of the stat-line was remarkably even considering how dominating the Buckeyes appeared. Iowa was simply unable to find easy shots against the excellent Buckeye defense, and with only 5 assists it was apparent that the Hawks were not managing to help their teammates effectively on the offensive end.
The pace of the game changed greatly coming out of the half, with both teams trying to hustle down the court on every possession. It’s not clear whether the strategy was planned by Iowa or OSU, but the switch worked in Ohio State’s favor. The Bucks continued to build on their halftime lead by finding open looks and undefended men in the paint. It was particularly clear that things weren’t working for Iowa when Lauderdale beat the entire Hawkeye frontcourt down the floor to be found on a pass from Lighty into the paint.
Iowa wasn’t quite ready to call it quits, however. Fran McCaffery made adjustments to counter the pace of the game and try to bring the Hawkeyes back into it with a tough defensive effort to counter the Buckeyes. The effort paid off in stopping the OSU run as the second half progressed, but the score stagnated as the Buckeyes continued to capitalize on mistakes and turnovers against Iowa’s offense.
Surprisingly, the Buckeyes committed 20 turnovers in the game. The sloppy play may have contributed to the reason why the game didn’t get completely out of control in the second half, especially the way the two teams were shooting respectively. The turnovers are a tad concerning, but could simply have been a function of relaxing a little against the Hawkeyes and not protecting the basketball all the time. Despite OSU’s high turnovers, Iowa contributed 22 of their own, keeping the turnovers from making a big difference in the game as a whole.
The Buckeyes managed to find some time for Jordan Sibert to see the court in this game. He did not produce much with his time, but did at least manage to play. Lenzelle Smith didn’t get to see time until the 2 minute mark of the second half, limited time for the way this game went down. JD Weatherspoon, unfortunately, never even found his way onto the court this evening.
The Buckeyes did not shoot nearly as well in the second half as they did in the first. OSU hit 26-55 (47.3%) from the field in the game while hitting only 6-21 (28.6%) from three, compared to Iowa’s 22-55 (40%) and 1-7 (14.3%) respectively. David Lighty’s 18 points led all scorers in the game, and he was joined in double figures by Buford’s 15 and Sullinger’s 13 for the Buckeyes. Iowa was led by bench player Andrew Brommer with 12, while starters Basabe (11) and Cartwright (10) also scored in double digits.
The Buckeyes will next face the Illini in Urbana-Champaign on Saturday, January 22nd at Noon Eastern Time. You’ll be able to see that game on the Big Ten Network.
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