Ohio State freshman guard Rikki Harris (1) takes a shot during the Ohio State-Duquesne game on Nov. 29. Ohio State won 82-47. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
After a disappointing performance against Northwestern Monday, the Buckeyes return home to the safe confines of the Schottenstein Center Thursday.
Suffering a 69-57 defeat on the road to No. 22 Northwestern (10-3, 8-3), No. 11 Ohio State (10-2, 6-2) looks to get back to its usual high-flying offensive ways against Iowa (10-4, 6-4).
This is the second matchup between the teams this season. The first resulted in an 84-82 Buckeye road victory despite an excellent offensive showing from Iowa freshman guard Caitlin Clark.
Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said that Clark will once again be a tall task for his defense.
“She’s one of the best players in the country regardless of class. She’s really special and an elite talent, and she plays hard and competes,” McGuff said. “She really presents a huge challenge. You’re not going to stop her, but you just have to try and slow her down a little and really make her work for everything she gets because she’s really good.”
Clark is second only to Michigan’s Naz Hillmon for scoring in the Big Ten, averaging 25.3 points per game.
The Hawkeyes are coming to Columbus after they dismantled Minnesota 94-68 in Minneapolis Sunday.
Ohio State sophomore forward Rebeka Mikulasikova said that slowing down the Iowa offense requires discipline and patience.
“We need to have a really good defense; they play really organized basketball,” Mikulasikova said. “We need to be really patient on defense and take care of the ball.”
The Buckeyes have struggled offensively in their last two games, scoring below their season average of 82.3 points per game in both contests.
Slow starts in the first quarter have plagued Ohio State — totaling a season-low 8 points in their tilt with the Wildcats Monday.
McGuff said that they look to hit the floor Thursday with heightened concentration.
“I think we really have got to be locked in and focused from the tip,” McGuff said.
After her excellent season from beyond the arc last year, Mikulasikova has struggled hitting 3-pointers in her return to the court — shooting 22.2 percent on the season.
Mikulasikova said she plans to work back to her previous success from range.
“I am working on it. I have been shooting before practice and after. It’s not as good as last year, but I think I’m getting there,” Mikulasikova said. “I need to continue to shoot and have confidence in myself. I think I’m struggling there a bit too.”
The Buckeyes have not beaten Iowa at home since 2017.
McGuff said that his team learned from its previous game against Iowa and looks to move forward.
“We had a really tight game there where we made a dramatic comeback and played really hard down the stretch,” McGuff said. “Hopefully we can be a little bit better throughout the game and don’t leave ourselves in that type of hole tomorrow.”
The Buckeyes will take on the Hawkeyes at the Schottenstein Center Thursday night at 6 p.m.
