Pregame glance: Iowa, Part II

Ohio State’s game against Iowa on Wednesday represents the first time the Buckeyes will see an opponent for the second time on the season.  Both teams will have had a chance to make adjustments since the first encounter, so it will be interesting to see how Iowa has strategized for the game.  The first time the two teams faced off this season was the Big Ten opener for Ohio State, and turned into their closest contest of the season despite Iowa’s lack of impressive play throughout their earlier schedule.

That first meeting between Ohio State and Iowa ended in a 73-68 victory for the Bucks on a night that also saw another Scarlet & Gray team take home a 31-26 W.  Check out the pregame glance from that January 4th game if you’d like the basics on this year’s Iowa squad.  For purposes of this pregame glance we’ll devote our attention to Iowa’s play since the earlier game in Iowa City.

A look at Iowa’s outcomes over the past couple weeks leads to quite a bit of speculation.  Here is the breakdown:

Loss at Purdue, 75-52
Loss versus Northwestern, 90-71
Loss at Minnesota, 69-59

Hmm, so what happened on the 4th?  It wasn’t a case of Iowa getting up for their Big Ten opener, or even their Big Ten home opener, as they had played (and lost) to Illinois at home just one week prior.  Was it a case of Ohio State playing down to the competition?  If the Buckeyes’ pre-conference schedule is any indication, then the answer is no.  Were the Ohio State players distracted by the football game?  Not too likely, especially when you’ve got an undefeated record on the line and it is your team’s Big Ten opener.

The most likely explanation is that the Buckeyes got Iowa’s best shot.  And looking at the subsequent close games against Minnesota and Penn State, we should expect to get every team’s best shot this year in the Big Ten.  Teams know that they need to bring their “A” game if they don’t want to get run off the court by Ohio State this season, and as a result the Buckeyes are going to need to consistently be solid with their fundamentals and focus.

Having said that, it’s somewhat doubtful that Iowa will pose the same level of challenge that we faced in our first matchup against them.  It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that Fran McCaffery had a sit-down with his team after the Illinois defeat that went something like “Boys, this is what the Big Ten is going to be like this year, so we can either get drubbed every night or we can make our best effort to get back on the right track starting now, and that means being ready for Ohio State coming into our place in one week.”  Fortunately for us, the Buckeyes met the challenge, and unfortunately for Iowa, any psychological shot in the arm they may have gotten seems to have worn off quickly.  Obviously this is just hypothesizing.

What isn’t up for debate is that the Buckeyes are advancing upon the second best start in program history, specifically the 22-0 mark set by the ’61-62 team, which is second only to the 27-0 record established by the ’60-61 squad.  Playing at home in the Schott, look for Ohio State to pick up a more lop-sided victory in this game than they’ve been able to achieve in their recent outings.  While Jared Sullinger would be the obvious choice for a big game, Jon Diebler may also post another highlight-reel night shooting from the outside, as the Hawkeyes have been struggling to defend the perimeter shooting in some recent games.

The Buckeyes will face Iowa at 6:30pm, and the game can be seen on the Big Ten Network.