Ohio State graduate guard Sean McNeil (4) shoots a 3 in the Ohio State (11-14)-Michigan State (16-9) men’s basketball game Sunday in Columbus. Ohio State lost 62-41. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
When it rains, it pours. And a storm of misery continues to follow the Ohio State men’s basketball team, as the losses continue to pile up after falling 92-75 to Iowa Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Buckeyes (11-15, 3-12 Big Ten) could not find a defensive stop, and found themselves outmatched against an Iowa (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) team they defeated 93-77 Jan. 21 in Columbus for their last win.
Graduate guard Sean McNeil had a 20-point outing on perfect 7-of-7 shooting, with redshirt senior forward Justice Sueing hauling in four rebounds.
On the flip side, the Hawkeyes shot the lights out in the second half to the tune of 64.3 percent, and saw five players reach double figures. Iowa junior guard Tony Perkins scored 24 points and graduate guard Connor McCaffrery dished out a career-high 13 assists with zero turnovers.
Ohio State played from behind throughout the first half, but going on sporadic runs and taking various one-point leads to stay competitive. Perkins and Hawkeyes sophomore guard Payton Sandfort combined for 22 first half points, but Ohio State took a 36-35 lead with 2:56 remaining in the half after freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh hit a 3-pointer.
However, the Buckeyes would be held scoreless afterwards as the Hawkeyes went on a 12-point run, courtesy of four 3-pointers, to take a 47-36 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, Iowa took control of the game and never looked back, leading by as many as 28 points. Perkins played all 20 minutes and scored 12 points, while Hawkeyes junior forward Kris Murray scored 13 of his 20 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Sensabaugh finished the game with 16 points, but consistent scoring was hard to come by as Ohio State dropped its 11th game in the last 12 matchups. The Hawkeyes led most statistical categories, notably outrebounding the Buckeyes 30-22 and dishing out 23 team assists compared to Ohio State’s 11.
Junior forward Zed Key also exited the game in the second half after appearing to reaggravate his left shoulder injury.
The Buckeyes dropped their 15th game for the first time since the 2016-17 season, and are now four games below .500.
They look to salvage a win on Sunday at 1 p.m. to face No. 3 Purdue at Mackey Arena. CBS will broadcast.
