It was more of the same for the #7 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes early Saturday afternoon, in their 76-47 victory against Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye arena.
The Buckeyes had five turnovers in the first ten minutes, sunk deep into foul trouble, and watched their senior leader go 0-10 from the field in the first half. Thanks to the play of Jared Sullinger early, Ohio State was able to keep afloat early. His 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in the first half that kept the Buckeyes in the game.
But it was the athletic ability of Shannon Scott, Sam Thompson and J.D. Weatherspoon that got the lethargic Buckeyes over the top and holding the lead for good midway in the first.
Shannon Scott, who played plenty of minutes in the first — got things started with wide open look from the elbow. After a three pointer from Jared Sullinger, Scott found a wide open J.D. Weatherspoon in the low post from the elbow for an emphatic dunk to start a 7-0 run. Weatherspoon would then grab a huge boxed out rebound on the opposite side of the court with 5:35 remaining on the clock in the first. Quickly up the court, the sophomore connected with Sam Thompson mid-air for the crowd silencing alley-oop jam to make it 22-13.
Coming out of the locker room with a 28-19 lead, Deshaun Thomas returned to the game after two quick fouls to hit a dagger from the wing off a nice pass from William Buford to make it 31-19. William Buford would follow that up with a beautiful drive to the baseline that led to his first made field goal of the game on a layup off the glass. He would go just 2/13 and ¼ from the free throw line.
Despite his struggles, the Buckeye offense was full throttle in the second half. Thomas was 2-2 from beyond the arc, as Lenzelle Smith re-entered the floor to start the second. He hit 2/3 from beyond the arc as well in the half.
The true story though was Jared Sullnger, who continued his domination in all aspects of the game. He wore down the Iowa defense with his size and strength. In arguably his best performance of the year, he would match Ohio State’s first half total with 28 points and bring down 8 rebounds and snag 4 steals. He looked like the freshman of the year that was so dominate by mid-season a year ago. His positioning, footwork, and stamina were at the level you would have expected before his bouts with injury early in the season. It was imperative to get a dominant performance from the big man, with the thick of the Big Ten schedule on the way.
Secondly, it was the play of freshman Shannon Scott who was called upon much of the game to run the offense with Aaron Craft in constant foul trouble. He showed his great floor vision, beautiful jumper, and rebounding ability from the point. He had 5 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.
As much as Buford upset fans with his performance, he led all rebounders with 11.
Perimeter play was better on both sides of the ball than it has been all season. Ohio State shot 7-14 from beyond the arc, and held Iowa to 3-12 from the perimeter. Iowa overall shot just over 30% from the field. Ohio State got things rolling in the second, and shot 52% from the field.
Overall, ten players saw time on the court for the Buckeyes, due to foul trouble in the first.
Up next for the Buckeyes is a trip to Champaign to take on Illinois on Tuesday.
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