It’s not often one game can make or break a season.
The Ohio State men’s basketball team’s 71-64 loss to Iowa last night came close, posing yet another postseason hurdle for the Buckeyes (13-12, 6-8 Big Ten), whose likelihood of making the NCAA tournament continues to diminish.
“In all the years I’ve coached college basketball, I don’t think I’ve ever been as disappointed as I was with our play in the second half,” coach Jim O’Brien said. “It has nothing to do with the way we played. It has everything to do with what was going on in our heads.”
OSU held Iowa (14-10 overall, 6-7 Big Ten) to a season-low 17 first half points and only 29 percent shooting from the field, before a role reversal of sorts spurred the Hawkeyes’ offense.
Iowa improved to 61 percent from the floor in the second half, when OSU suffered a defensive breakdown accompanied by poor shooting.
“They really exploited all the things we don’t do well. Our defense was non-existent in the second half,” O’Brien said, pointing to a lack of effort as the cause. “We felt like this was a very meaningful game for us.”
Guard Brent Darby earned game-high scoring honors with 20 points. Center Velimir Radinovic turned in another impressive performance with 14 points and seven rebounds for the Buckeyes. Forward Jared Reiner led Iowa with 16 points.
“I don’t know what happened,” guard Sean Connolly said. “They came at us with more intensity in the second half and we gave them a lot of easy hoops.”
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively in the first half, with neither team scoring a field goal until OSU guard Emonte Jernigan’s baseline runner ended the drought at 14:18 remaining.
Despite the physical mismatch, OSU held a 36-31 rebounding edge for the game.
Iowa opened the game scoreless for nearly 10 minutes before a lay-up from Brody Boyd at 10:46 put the Hawkeyes on the board. OSU shot 50 percent in the first half, but the Buckeyes’ offensive efforts were countered by 13 turnovers.
Connolly tipped in a deflection of his own blocked shot to put the Buckeyes up 9-2 at 11:20, later nailing a three pointer to beat the shot clock buzzer and give OSU a 10-point lead at the half, 27-17.
“We turned the ball over a lot and didn’t play nearly as well as we should have,” Connolly said.
“They were cold in the first half, but they turned it around.”
Iowa took its first lead of the game in the second half at 35-33, steadily extending the advantage to eleven before OSU’s backcourt staged a clinic beyond the arc in the final minutes, hitting three three-pointers to cut the deficit to four with 15 seconds remaining.
The Buckeye comeback proved too little too late, as OSU ended a four-game winning streak over the Hawkeyes.
“I’m at a loss for words right now, but I know we can’t get down,” Radinovic said. “It’s a disappointing loss, but we have to stay focused and make sure we are all on the same page. We have to keep our heads up and work hard every day.”
OSU will travel to Northwestern on Mar. 5 before returning home Mar. 8 to host Michigan State in a senior finale for guards Connolly, Darby and Shaun Smith.
